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Path Leading from the Doctor"s House to Orangeman's 
Hall and Church on Hill 

Frontispiece. 



Work and Play in the 
Grenfell Mission 



'Extracts from the Letters and Journal of 
HUGH PAYNE GREELEY, M.D. 

and 
FLORETTA ELMORE GREELEY 



Introduction by 
DR. WILFRED T. GRENFELL 




New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



■% 



Copyright, 1920, by 
FLEAnNG H. REVELL COMPANY 



Printed in United States of Americm 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago : 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 



g,aA566122 



Dedicated to the memory of 

Dr. Harrison Briggs Webster, 

the ''Bunti/' of this hook, 

^ho fell in France, Oct. 7, 1918, 

A firm friend, 

A skillful surgeon, 

A hrwDC soldier. 



INTRODUCTION. 

STILL frozen in, and with the ice in the bays 
broken by a heavy eea in a late blizzard, 
and the rivers swollen and dangerous from 
a sudden rain and "mild," we are completely cut 
off from the world. I am therefore obliged to 
write a foreword for Dr. and Mrs. Greeley's book 
without the pleasure of making myself familiar 
with the contents. 

Dr. and Mrs. Greeley worked in conjunction 
with us in our endeavor to solve the problem of 
the "wounded man'^ on a, ^oas^ where a Good 
Samaritan is badly needed, and without whom he 
must lie untended. A skillful physician himself, 
together with Dr. Harrison Webster, a surgeon of 
very considerable ability, they started and prac- 
tically built with tlieir own hands not only the 
clinic, but the actual hospital at the little village 
of Pilley's Island. It is the centre of many thou- 
sands of fishermen, who had sent a deputation 
North to ask us to try and arrange for them a 
somewhat similar help to that which was being 
given by our hospitals. 

As the people of Notre Dame Bay are among 
the friends whom I have most learned to love and 
respect I personally owe to Dr. Greeley and his 
wife a very great debt of gratitude for the good 

9 



6 Introduction 

wprk which they did there. The keen minds of 
both Dr. and Mrs. Greeley, endowed with all the 
blessings of modern civilization, should certainly 
qualify them to write a book of intense interest 
on their somewhat unique experiences. We shall 
all be grateful that they have decided to produce 
a permanent record, which will be welcomed not 
only by ourselves, but by the large public every- 
where interested as they now are in "those who 
do business in great waters." 

Wilfred T. Gebnfell. 
St Anthony^ NewfoundlancL 



CONTENTS 

I. We Begin Our Honeymoon 9 

II. Pains and Pleasures 30 

III. Work and Play 50 

IV, We Prepare for Winter 78 

V. A January Christmas 99 

VI. On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 121 

VII. We Welcome a Stranger 142 

VIII. Out Through the Narrows 170 

Appendix 179 



WE BEGIN OUR HONEYMOOI^ 

On Bbard Steamship Florizel, sailing from 

New York to St. John's. 
Wednesday, May 10, 1911. 

I NEVER imagined how truly delightful this 
trip by water would be ! We were prepared 
for any sort of accommodation but instead 
we have all the freshest of fresh air possible, a 
place to walk and to read and write, a piano to 
play and books of songs for Bunty and Hugh to 
roar out to my accompaniment, a table whose ex- 
cellence I can't praise too highly and a comfort- 
able berth to withdraw to whenever one is seized 
with a sweet disposition of sleep. 

Of course you are wondering whether we have 
been sea-sick; Bunty and I have been enjoying 
all day, my unpremeditated pun of "A green and 
sickly Hugh" at breakfast, though the poor 
victim has not entirely appreciated its humor. I 
didn't feel quite as I do on land myself, so we 
spent most of the morning in our stateroom, 
which has a window opening on the deck, enjoy- 
ing the delicious sea air and reading Lorna 
Doone with much pleasure. We were both equal 
to a go^)d dinner, and afterwards took a brisk 
walk on deck, followed by a reading of Kipling's 

9 



10 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

verse by Bunty and more Lorna Doone, while sit- 
ting in a sheltered and sunny nook "up aloft" 
somewhere. The only signs of life we have seen 
on the ocean — the beautiful ocean — today, were 
two white gulls which flew after us for some time, 
but scorned to alight on our rigging even though 
we are about eighty miles from land. This is the 
first time I have ever been surrounded by "water, 
water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink," and 
it is certainly impressive to me to think that I 
am at last really "out on the boundless deep." 
I keep running to the porf holes to look out and 
assure myself that the ocean is still there. The 
boys just called me to look out at the wide path 
of silver light which the moon is spreading on 
the waves, and the air is so filled with the smell 
of the sea that Bunty thinks we must be near the 
gulf stream with its warmer water. We passed 
some glorious square rigged ships and graceful 
schooners yesterday, and Oh, I never can tell you 
how I felt when I saw the Statue of Liberty 
watching us out of the harbor! You remember 
in "The Meltinr^- Pot" how the Jewish emigrant 
made us all shed patriotic tears when he said 
that the Statue of Liberty kept calling to his op- 
pressed people, "Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden !" Well, it may sound senti- 
mental without the footlights and scenery, but I 
w^as quite sure from her gesture that she was 
telling us, "Go forth and spread my light, you 
that have known it in America!" I hope that 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 11 

we can realize some of our ideals in the north, 
for we are all so filled with the joy of living that 
we can hardly wait for the opportunity to pass 
on some of our good fortune to others. 

Hugh is so anxious to have me go out on deck 
and see the moon, that I shall wait 'til tomorrow 
to thank you all for your dear letters and tell 
you what was in our packages. How I wish you 
were all with us, to share in this wonderful ex- 
perience ! 

Morning, with a long night's sleep behind and 
a beautiful day ahead. When I woke up and 
looked out our stateroom window, I saw low, 
rocky hills covered with evergreens, and leafless 
trees that looked purple beside them. It was the 
coast of Nova Scotia, and the steward told us 
that we should reach Halifax in about two hours. 
We are now lying at the docks, where we shall 
stay until tomorrow night at least, loading 
twelve hundred barrels of flour for St. John's. 

There are one or two items of news that I 
didn't have time to write last night and which 
I'll add before posting this : While Hugh and I 
were rhapsodizing over the impressiveness of the 
Statue of Liberty at New York, Bunty came up 
behind us and remarked glumly, ^^There's old 
Lib handing out the ballot box to people that 
don't deserve to have it." It makes such an ef- 
fective anti-climax that I felt you ought not to 
miss it. 



12 Work and Play in the Grenfell Missioa 

•The waiter in the dining room says "very well'' 
in such a delightfully cultivated way that I feel 
like ordering everything on the bill of fare to 
make him repeat it. I said this morning that I 
wanted to embrace him each time he said it, at 
which Bunty remarked, "Well, Jeff, we've got 
onr cue.'^ Bunty, you have probably guessed, is 
an ideal traveling companion, and I can see why 
Hugh is so fond of him. He is the soul of un- 
selfish thoughtfulness, and as good natured as 
the day is long. We all enjoy everything in just 
the same way, and three happier voyagers it 
would be difficult to find. 

We set our watches an hour ahead at Halifax, 
and shall gain twenty-eight minutes more at St. 
John's. Thank you very, very much for the letters, 
which were certainly a joy to read. I was very 
grateful, too, for the package mother sent, and for 
the beautiful parka therein contained. Bunty 
took great pleasure in seeing Hugh's admiration 
of me in it. Several of my pupils and other 
friends had written me letters, so that with those 
from home we had about twenty, and they were 
certainly a feast for the soul. We felt warmed 
through by the loving good wishes everyone sent ; 
how many lovely people there are in the world ! 

My heavy suit and flannel waist and leather 
coat have all been most satisfactory, and I feel 
perfectly prepared for this climate. It has not 
been very cold, but enough so to make warm 
clothes and exercise necessary to comfort. 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 13 

I think I have told joii all the most important 
things, though I know I shall remember more as 
soon as I've mailed this. My mind is so full of 
new impressions that I can't arrange them very 
clearly. 

St. Johns, Newfoundland, 

May 15, 1911. 

The Florizel reached St. John's harbour last 
night after we had gone to bed, but I got up and 
looked out of the window, and there a most 
beautiful sight met my eyes: A dark, high cliff 
rose up to the full moon which was flooding the 
water with light, and down in the shadows at its 
foot twinkled countless lights from the fishing 
boats moored there in the darkness. How I wish 
for you all at every turn! Mother would be so 
carried away by the wild beauty of this country 
that I feel she ought to be here in my place. Yes- 
terday we sailed all afternoon along the high 
rocky coast of Cape Race, with irregular moun- 
tain ranges rising behind, and great white 
patches of snow lying in the hollows of the hills. 
Then imagine my feelings when the purser went 
through the saloon saying, "Iceberg off to star- 
board, sir I" We all hurried to the windows, and 
there in the distance was a great white mass mov- 
ing majestically along over the blue sea. It was 
full of suggestion of the silent polar regions with 
their "glittering ice fields" and I felt as though 
I had been introduced to the North Pole. We saw 
several more during the afternoon, some of them 



14 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

n^ar enough for us to catch the delicate green and 
blue that the sunlight gave them. Then the boys 
called me out to look at a fleet of fishing boats 
all starting out together. I wish I could give you 
an idea of their beauty as they came swiftly over 
the waves with their brown tanned sails spread to 
the wind, — on either side of the mast of most of 
them, for they were running before the wind, — 
and their prows rising and falling most gallantly. 
It seemed very cold to be going out in such small 
crafts, but the men on deck waved to us heartily, 
and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their trip. 
When we came up after supper they were lost 
from sight, but a few white gulls flew after our 
boat, and far out on the horizon two gray 
schooners moved dimly against the clouds. 
"Glories upon glories hath our God prepared" for 
those that go down to the sea in ships. 

We reluctantly left the comforts of the Florizel 
this morning and had our "luggage" moved to a 
hotel of which this writing paper is an excellent 
symbol. However, it's neat if a trifle gaudy, and 
we shall get along very well until Wednesday 
morning when the Prospero leaves for Pilley's Is- 
land. Our baggage was passed through the custom 
house like lightning, as soon as H — pronounced 
the magic words "Grenfell Association." "Oh, 
very well," said the officer, "we won't give you 
any bother at all." 

After making arrangements at the hotel, we 
went down to interview the Honorable Some- 



We Begin Our Iloneymoon 15 

thing, who is some sort of Government dignitary 
here. Very English, very affable, very chatty: 
"You'll find the people at the Island a very decent 
sort, oh very decent, but very Irish and with the 
faults that the Irish have; extremely poor, but 
with it all extremely wasteful. It's an excellent 
field for missionary work in the teaching of com- 
mon sense." 

I left the Doctors this morning seeing about the 
freight while I walked along the principal busi- 
ness street, the one with real cement sidewalks 
instead of dirt paths, to find the post office. I was 
told the Boston mail leaves here Tuesdays, Thurs- 
days and Saturdays, and reaches there five days 
later, so we can't expect very rapid communica- 
tion, I fear. 

St. John's reminds me a little of a mining town 
in northern Michigan, only it's much larger, and 
has some very good sized churches and govern- 
ment buildings. Most of the work wagons are 
made of planks nailed together with cross pieces 
and fastened on to wheels, and they certainly 
look primitive with the driver sitting as though 
he were riding side saddle, with his legs dangling 
over the edge in an attitude of nonchalant ease. 
Everybody ('sense me, teacher) spits everywhere, 
in spite of the fact that the death rate from tu- 
berculosis in Newfoundland is three a day, in a 
population of a quarter of a million. There are 
great numbers of lounging men in the streets, who 
bump into you simply because they don't take 



1(5 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

pains to see where they are going. There were 
some good stores on Water Street, but most of 
them displayed either tin cooking dishes or un- 
speakable painted china. However, every little 
while you would come upon a road leading direct- 
ly down to the harbour, and there is the open 
water with the beautiful ships lying at anchor, 
and the tall cliff rising behind, and at once you 
forget all the dinginess around you. * * * I was 
interrupted by the arrival of the gentlemen, with 
whom I ate a very good dinner, beginning with , 
soup and ending with pancakes, and having hali- | 
but, onions, cucumbers and potatoes in the middle. 
I hope I shall find some letters at Pilley's Is- 
land, for though it's only two weeks to-morrow 
since we left home, I could readily believe it was 
six months. 

On hoard "Prospero/* 
Off Bonavista Harbor, 
May 18, 1911. 

We have really reached the North of the Deep- 
Sea-Fishers, and I can't begin to tell you how 
interesting it all is ! We left St. John's yester- 
day morning in a fine snow storm and a gale of 
wind which made a glorious sight of the waves 
as we sailed out of the harbor protected on both 
sides by high walls of cliff, — real mountain peaks 
they are, rising grandly out of the sea with sheer 
rocky sides. Bunty says he likes this coast, for 
it always seems to say to a newcomer, "Well, it's 
up to you. If you settle here, I shan't make 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 17 

things easy for you. What are you worth ?'^ The 
wind came tearing down the sides of one cliff and 
we could see it sweeping over the water like a 
white mist until it struck our boat, and then 
didn't we rise to heaven and sink to the waters 
under the earth ! It was mightily cold on deck, 
especially as I had on my city spring clothes, so 
I decided to go down to our stateroom and get on 
something warmer. 

One of the officers very courteously started 
to show me the way, but just as we turned to go a 
great wave struck us amidships, came splashing 
over the deck — and me — and a gust of wind took 
me with such force that I fairly flew through the 
door just as it banged after me. H — had been 
bringing up the rear, and so got the officer full in 
the nose when that gentleman turned to run back. 
When we got down to the cabin and I had put on 
a pair of H's woolen socks under my stockings, 
we found, both of us, that we were victims of sea- 
sickness and dedicated our breal fasts to the At- 
lantic. We didn't go out for dinner, and I lay in 
my berth with my wet skirt on, not caring how 
long it would take me to press the pleats in again. 
Early in the afternoon we mercifully stopped at 
a "port of call," so we sought the upper deck re- 
joicing. Much to our delight we found that the 
invincible Bunty had also succumbed along with 
most of the other passengers, so you see we 
weren't typical land lubbers. That's the only 
time we've been sick, though it was bad weather 



18 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

all day yesterday, with frequent snow flurries and 
<?old wind. But we stopped every few hours at the 
different harbours to leave the mail and freight 
for the people, and whenever there is a wharf we 
go ashore and interview the local M. D. 

Pilley's Island, 
Sunday Morning. 

The "Clyde'' is due at any moment so I must 
make this a brief recital just to set your minds at 
rest about everything. The Island is a joy to the 
soul, with rocky hills, and a glorious harbour. 
Our house is most attractive, large and roomy, 
with a long roofed porch, and painted white. The 
people are cordial beyond power of description. 
Mrs. Stuckless met us at the boat which came in 
at about 4:30 a. m. and took us right up to her 
house. Mr. Stuckless has been very sick but is 
up now. We have made this our headquarters, 
eating and sleeping here, and spending all the 
rest of our time at our house, unpacking the 
myriad boxes. The women of the neighborhood 
had scrubbed all the floors, washed the paint and 
windows, and papered two rooms. Wasn't that 
nice of them? Last night we made a fire in the 
kitchen range, and to-morrow we shall set up our 
beds and sleep there. We made Bunty a berth on 
a couch with the bedding we had packed at home. 
It all looks so pretty, dear mother, as do all the 
things I unpacked. 

Mrs. Stuckless just called that it's church time 
(Methodist), so good bye. 




The "Prospero" at a Port of Call 




Pilley's Island 
X Over Doctor's House 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 19 

May 25, 1911. 

Better than all our dreams is the Pilley's Island 
of reality ! How I wish for you all at every turn, 
for every day is full of new and delightful experi- 
ences. I have been so constantly busy with 
^^housekeeping orders'' ( !) that I haven't had a 
minute for writing until now, and now the "Pros- 
pero" is due in an hour from "down north" so I 
must make the most of my time and tell you as 
much as possible with no regard to "rules for 
composition." 

We have certainly been having a real pioneer 
experience, for twenty of our boxes are still at St. 
John's, not having been unloaded from the Flori- 
zel in time to get the Prospero with us; among 
them is the one with all our cooking dishes, so I 
have been keeping house with "three tin plates 
to sop out un, and a coffee pot for the old 'oman" 
figuratively speaking. By which I mean really 
that Mrs. Penny — a neighbor as friendly as she is 
toothless— has lent me three forks and knives, a 
dish pan, a muffin tin, and a frying pan, and with 
these I manage to prepare our simple but hearty 
repasts. I have also been able to appreciate the 
feelings of Aunt M.'s Chinese women who were 
given empty tin cans for Christmas presents. 
When H — cut the cover neatly off of one for me 
and gave it to me to boil water in, I felt like a 
queen. Blessed be poverty! It has all seemed 
just like playing house in the old attic, only far 
more fun because it is all so necessary. We 



20 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

nioved in on Monday, and that very morning the 
two M. D.'s were summoned eleven miles away 
by boat to Woodford's Cove to see a poor young 
wife of twenty who was having terrible convul- 
sions. They thought it would mean an operation, 
so they unpacked all the medical boxes they could 
find, strewed the floors far and wide with paper 
and excelsior, and left. When I came over after 
breakfast at the Stucklesses I certainly prayed 
for an inspiration as to what to do and where to 
begin, for I was most anxious to have the house 
ready to live and eat in when they came back at 
night. 

The neighbours up here are all "hearts of gold'^ 
— I really never knew the like of them. Three 
men offered their services for the entire day, 
and Mrs. Penny came over in the afternoon 
after her "wash was out,'' and worked without 
stopping until supper time. (I can hear the re- 
marks about Mrs. Tom Sawyer's settling of her 
house as though I were with you. ) All day long 
it rained hard, which complicated our unpacking 
problem, as many of the boxes were in the yard, 
but by night — to make a long day short — we had 
two beds up and made ready to sleep in with my 
beautiful wedding blankets and sheets and com- 
forters, the Franklin stove set up and lighted, the 
kitchen stove ditto, the two tables and several 
chairs unpacked, a small kitchen table made and 
covered with neat blue oilcloth by the writer, 
the china unpacked, washed, and set on the 



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The Goats Always Sought the Shelter of the House at Night 



I 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 21 

shelves, and when the two tired, wet and hungry, 
young doctors came back after performing an 
operation and rowing twenty miles in the rain, I 
had a fire lighted in the dining room, a lamp in 
the window, and the table set, with a hot supper 
of canned chicken creamed with goat's milk — 
only fancy! — boiled potatoes, bread and butter 
and honey, olives, coffee, and some of Aunt Ella's 
preserved strawberries. I never knew anything 
quite so satisfying as it was to minister to the 
primitive, creature comforts of "my men" that 
evening. They were so tired and so appreciative 
that it would have been worth any effort to give 
them "a bit of comfort." I forgot to say that they 
didn't get home until ten o'clock, and as I had 
been ready for them about six, I decided it was 
just as well I wasn't a lady of firm convictions in 
regard to the sacredness of the meal hour. I 
alternately cooled things off and heated them up 
again for four hours, but we were all too hungry 
to know whether they had been hurt by changes 
of temperature. 

Patients come in from far and wide at all 
hours of the day and night. As H— says, they 
certainly have save up "the darndest lot of ail- 
ments for the last two years" and they are all pin- 
ing to lay them at his feet. The poor boy has 
wanted so much to help about fixing the house, 
but just as he gets started there is a timid knock 
at the door, and I hear him saying to a silent ap- 
plicant, "How do you do, sir, what can I do for 



22 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

yoii?'^ Bimty is kept busy every moment too, and 
has already performed two big operations beside 
extracting teeth with ether. Our house reeks 
with medical fumes at intervals, and I come upon 
strange ^^samples" from various patients, repos- 
ing next my milk and butter. And everyone is so 
delighted to have a doctor here, that it all seems 
infinitely worth while. The halt, the lame and the 
blind who keep coming to our door, tell me while 
they are waiting to go into H — 's "surgery" — the 
^Newfoundland name for an office — how much it 
means to them to have a doctor here. 

Our house stands on a high hill looking over 
the harbour, which is a beautiful stretch of calm 
water enclosed by rocky hills rising one behind 
another. The fishermen's little white cottages are 
clustered below us along the water's edge, and 
there is a narrow winding road that I take at the 
foot of the hill, which leads me past the wharf, up 
another steep hill beyond and then down again to 
where two tiny shops with a musty smell, keep 
buttons and sugar and fishhooks and pitchers. I 
never knew quite such a limited stock anywhere 
else, and as the people here say, "Everything is 
wonderful high." 

But I haven't told you about my maid— it 
thrills me so to think I have one! That first 
eventful Monday evening when I was getting sup- 
per in my half-settled kitchen, there was a knock 
at the door, and a young girl presented herself 
to ask if I wanted a girl. H — had been telling 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 23 

me I must get someone to lielp me, so I told her 
jes, and that she might begin work at once, and 
we would settle about terms later. So she came 
in and "fell to" and I found her neat and thor- 
ough and quite quick. She lives at home, but 
spends the entire day and has her dinner here, — 
and is never tired. I feel like a slave driver ask- 
ing her to do one thing after another, but she 
never wants to rest and would rather stay here 
than go home. My neighbours feel that I am pay- 
ing her too high wages, but I tell them that it's 
only for this first month when there is so much 
extra to do ; and the wages, my friends, are three 
dollars a month. They are to be two dollars and 
a half after this month, though Mrs. Stuckless 
said she would come for two. But her family is 
desperately poor, with a crippled father and in- 
valid mother and a thin little sister, and the Gov- 
ernment has withdrawn its help since Annie — my 
maid — has been old enough to work. She is pa- 
thetically careful of her poor, patched, little 
clothes, and fixes her hair and washes her face 
and hands in the woodshed every evening before 
going home. I long to give her something better 
to wear, but the neighbors all tell me she is of a 
begging family and if I begin she'll always be 
asking me, so I am going to wait another week 
and see if she continues to be deserving. But I 
can't blame a child for asking, when her mother is 
so hungry that she actually looks pinched, people 
tell me. Miss Gray of the Grenfell Association 



24 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

s§nt us delightful boxes of clothes and toys, which 
it is going to be a perfect joy to distribute at 
Christmas. 

The women that I meet have a look of infinite 
patience in their faces, which it would go to your 
hearts to see. They are wonderfully deferential, 
and I am so used to hearing "Mrs. Greeley" at the 
end of every reply — if it's only one word long — 
that I shall soon forget I was ever called anything 
else. Mrs. Stuckless is a dear, sweet, little wom- 
an about my age. I couldn't ask for a nicer little 
neighbour, and she has an adorable baby six 
months old who already knows me. She runs in 
several times a day to know how I'm getting on, 
and on Tuesday she brought me a plateful of de- 
licious mussels which I fried in butter for "the 
doctor's supper." She had baked more bread 
than usual so as to give me some, — and Oh, I 
must tell you about the goat's milk. Mrs. Shear- 
ing had told me on Monday that she would ask a 
friend to save me some and at about ^Ye the wom- 
an appeared with it. She was a very nice, gray- 
haired woman, and she stopped to ask me how I 
liked the Island and whether I should be happy 
here. And then she said suddenly, "And you 
must let me give you this milk to-night, — the first 
milk you start housekeeping with, — ^you look so 
young, — just like my Mary!" And Mary, Mrs. 
Penny told me afterwards, was brought home 
sick last summer when she was expecting her 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 25 

baby, and "in six hours she was a carpse'' — ^this 
is Mrs. P.'s pronunciation. 

The poor girl that I wrote you about whom 
the boys went to see, died Wednesday evening in 
spite of the fact that Bunty went back and spent 
another night and day there to take care of her; 
but after he had taken her poor, little, dead child, 
she had only six convulsions in forty-eight hours, 
instead of in one as she had been doing, until even 
her mother didn't like to stay in the room with 
her. 

Yesterday afternoon, the "Ladies' Aid" of the 
Methodist Church on the hill, had its annual sale, 
and Mrs. K — , the lady who came up on the Pros- 
pero with us, came over to tell me that the society 
invited Dr. and Mrs. Greeley to come up for tea. 

The Prospero just whistled, so I must run down 
with this. Think of E.'s coming on the next trip ! 
You seem such miles away ! 

Pilley's Island, 
Newfoundland, 
June 17, 1911. 
TO A. E. M. : 

Your letter was a source of great delight and 
entertainment to us, and we read all its news with 
the keenest interest. Tell Robert that our morn- 
ing glories are up, and some of the vegetables, 
though just which ones I am not able to determine 
from the kitchen window, and as it is usually 
raining I haven't ventured into its earthy con- 
fines to see more exactly. We are having what 



26 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

regjly might be called a rainy season here, due, 
we are told by a physiography teacher who is 
visiting us, to the meeting between southern 
winds and those coming over the ice fields farther 
north. Some mornings it starts out warm and 
sunny. Mrs. Stuckless appears radiant in a white 
tucked dress and wide shade hat, I begin apolo- 
gizing for my heavy cloth skirt, and before she 
has had time to tell me that I look better than she 
does, a wind breathing out Arctic ice sweeps down 
upon us, and she rushes for home with the baby. 
Or else a heavy storm cloud appears suddenly 
above the narrows and we are drenched with rain 
or pelted with hail from the "dwygh" — pro- 
nounced "dwy" — as the islanders call these sud- 
den storms from sea. Almost every morning this 
week, however, has dawned damp and cloudy, 
and it has rained intermittently all day, to the 
unutterable rage and despair of dear old Mr. 
Penny who is whitewashing our house again to 
make up for the very poor job done before our ar- 
rival. 

The entire job, he says, is to cost "at the out- 
side" three dollars, though its taking him days to 
do it, and he is labouriously scraping and washing 
the old paint and whitewash off the windows, as I 
can't reach it from inside, since the upper sash 
doesn't move. He is not so very "stiddy-' on the 
ladder either, he told me, for ever since the time 
last summer when he mowed hay all day in the 
sun just after he'd had his hair "crapped" he's 



We Begin Our Honeymoon 27 

been a little giddy at times. Poor Mother Penny 
comes over and stands looking up at him with 
anxious solicitude, but the highest part is now 
safely accomplished so I have stopped worrying, 
though every time a ladder falls I run out to see 
"how dead he's killed" as he expressed it. How 
I love this life up here, and how I think of Mother 
every time I hear a new bit of dialect! I have 
planned to write home so many of the rarities of 
speech that I can't remember which ones I have 
told you so forgive me if I repeat. Did I tell you 
what Mrs. Penny said about her daughter's baby? 
She was the only person with her when it was 
born, and she told me everything was going lovely 
until "just as the baby got to the shoals, she 
jammed, and I was that scared I didn't know 
what to do, but then I just reached up and caught 
hold of the little arm and pulled it out and then 
it was all right." 

She is Mr. Penny's second wife and he is her 
third husband, and she told us the other night 
that sometimes when she talks about being buried 
in Tilt Cove next to her first husband, "Mr. 
Penny gets real kind of hurt. But I say to him, 
^Oh you've one to lay alongside of up there — point- 
ing to the churchyard — and that's enough.' " To 
which he replies, "Well I spose you wouldn't be 
seen layin' alongside of me, would you?" And 
she repeats, "Not where you've got one already, 
that's enough." 



28 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

I've been making more visits with H — and 
meeting more interesting and delightful old peo- 
ple. One couple have quite a little garden in front 
of their house, with gooseberry bushes and "bake 
apples" (small yellow berries) and rhubarb, and 
Mrs. Cobb told me that as soon as the berries are 
ripe, I must come and pick some if I'd care to; 
and she asked her husband to pick me a bouquet of 
creeping Charley before w^e left, as I might like a 
few flowers. Annie's mother is industriously 
cultivating a plant for our dining table, and sent 
us some poppy seeds for our garden. I have sur- 
prised myself by telling Annie quite frankly what 
the faults of her family are, that keep them from 
making friends and getting work, and it seems to 
have had a salutary effect on them, for they 
haven't asked for a thing since, and have tried to 
make me these presents in a way that's quite pa- 
thetic. I think I told you about the slice of cold 
peas pudding they sent me, made of split peas 
boiled in a cloth until soft and then cut in slices, 
and "yes'm 'tis lovely when you cook the peas up 
real soft and nice." We have decided to give 
Annie three dollars a month, for it seems the best 
way of helping the family, and she certainly earns 
it. I can say without boasting that none of Moth- 
er's girls was ever more pleased with her place! 
Annie simply beams when she sees any of us, and 
only wishes she stayed here all the time. 

Did I tell you about Ivy? Ivy is her younger 
sister, and very pinched and meagre looking. The 



^e Begin Our Honeymoon 29 

first day I saw her she had been doing the family 
washing, "on account of her mother's wonderful 
back" — due to a fall — and the day before she had 
scrubbed the kitchen. I asked her how old she 
was. "Going on ten," said Ivy. I couldn't help 
thinking of Mr. Jaryndice's sad reply, "A great 
age, Charley !" and I asked her if she had ever had 
a birthday party. "No ma'am/' said she. "Have 
you ever been to one?" I asked. "No ma'am," 
replied Ivy. "When is your birthday," continued 
Mrs. Greeley. "June twenty-eighth, ma'am," 
said Ivy. And so I am to have the pleasure of 
giving Ivy a birthday party, and she has brought 
me a list of fifteen little girls, spelled "Etty Ag- 
gett" for Hetty Hackett and in various other 
strange ways which Annie interpreted, and she is 
to wear her white dress, as are all the other little 
girls who have them, and every guest that can has 
told her she is going to bring her a present, and 
we are to have ice cream for the first time in their 
lives. And E — will play a supper march on Mr. 
Shearing's autoharp! Don't you all wish you 
could come to the party? 



PAINS AND PLEASUEES 
II 

July 1, 1911, 

IT ALL grows more interesting and delightful 
every day, and oh, how much a doctor was 
needed here ! He is far busier than I wish, 
but he looks decidedly better than he did when 
we left home. Last evening he rowed over to 
"Sop's Arm'' to see a woman and her two children, 
all of whom had pneumonia. The nearest neigh- 
bour lived two miles away, so the husband had 
been taking almost entire care of the patients, and 
H — stayed to relieve him. He sat up all night 
fanning away mosquitoes from the woman, so 
that she might get some sleep, and early this 
morning rowed over to "Kobert's Arm" to see an- 
other patient. 

This last one I visited with him "een boat" 
last week, and I never felt the grimness of pov- 
erty more keenly than when I stepped into that 
bare, comfort-empty house. The woman was in 
bed with a four-days'-old baby and at the same 
time had an attack of pneumonia so severe that 
Hugh didn't think it at all likely she could live. 
Her husband and older children were off at the 
"French Shore" at the fisheries, so the manage- 
ment of the house and the care of six younger chil- 



Pains and Pleasures 31 

dren and the patient was being undertaken by 
the eleven-year-old Lena, who apologized to me 
for the dirt on her sister *'Pearly's" dress, saying 
that '^the children always would be getting in the 
dirt." 

The midwife had left them almost at once after 
the birth of the baby, as she had a sick husband at 
home, and when we got there at about five in the 
evening the woman had had neither a drop of 
water nor a bite of food all day. Her bed was of 
course anything but attractive, especially as there 
were no sheets and no covering to the mattress, 
which had evidently known years of use. Sick as 
she was, the poor woman beckoned to me to come 
to her side and then whispered in her weak, husky 
voice that the baby wasn't clean, but that it was 
because she had no one to take care of him. Mos- 
quitoes and black flies were flying about, because 
Hugh had taken out two panes of glass to insure 
fresh air, the only successful method of keeping 
windows open, as the midwife slept there at night, 
and was afraid the baby would "get a cold.'' H — 
had given the woman an alcohol rub the Sunday 
before and I think that was the only bathing she 
had had. 

I went out to the forlorn kitchen to get her 
something to eat from our basket, for the only 
food in the house seemed to be a jar of molasses, 
though there probably was bread stored away. I 
made a fire in the little cooking stove, boiled some 
coffee in a battered pot, and got Lena to wash the 



32 Work and Play in the Grenfeil Misision 

dishes, as there were only two cups, one teaspoon 
and four plates in the house, and they had all 
been used. I showed the little girl how to make 
coffee so that she could do it the next day, and 
then fed the mother a little from the spoon after 
Hugh had given her some pineapple juice. She 
was too sick to take anything more, and she told 
us she had almost nothing for the baby. So Lena 
ordered "William, me love," to tie up his stock- 
ings and go after the goat's milk, and mind he 
didn't break the bottle. William Avent leisurely 
to a corner of the kitchen, searched through a pile 
of rags with a practiced hand until he found 
pieces of the desired length, and then proceeded 
to obey his sister's injunctions in regard to the 
stockings. When we left, Lena was rocking back 
and forth "hushing" the baby, who was "that 
cross she couldn't do nothing with him." She had 
rescued him from a roomful of small brothers and 
sisters, explaining that "they'd soon have him 
killed." 

When Hugh was there the Sunday afternoon 
before, "Pearly," aged about two, had fallen down 
stairs, landed on her head and then bounded onto 
it again, so that she was still unconscious when 
Hugh left. But the next day when he called, she 
was as serene and active as ever. We tried to eat 
our supper on a lumber pile looking over the har- 
bour, but the black flies and mosquitoes were 
"somethin' wonderful," and forced us to set out 
again in our boat after seeing one more patient. 



Pains and Pleasures 33 

The sea had been very high when we went over, 
so that Mr. Rideout whose boat we borrowed at 
Spencer^s Dock, had been doubtful whether we 
could reach Robert's Arm ; but now the wind had 
moderated, and as it was blowing towards Pilley's 
Island, we hoisted a sail of Hugh's coat fastened 
to an oar and went along quite easily. We went 
ashore and H — , if you please, went in swimming, 
though it was cold enough so that my leather coat 
felt comfortable. Then we ate our lunch and con- 
tinued on our way over the sea glorified by the 
northern twilight. The color in the clouds above 
the hills was exquisitely lovely in its changing 
shades, and a calm silver light lay over all the 
water. As it grew darker, we could see sparks of 
phosphorescent fire at every dip of the oars 
though it was not late enough to get the full flame 
that H — had seen at midnight. 

July 15, 1911. 

I had intended telling you about the birthday 
party, and will do so now. 

The afternoon was a fine one and hot enough 
to make ice cream an appropriate dish. Mrs. 
Stuckless gave me a rule for making it without 
cream, and I flavoured it with chocolate, remem- 
bering my youth. A frosted spice cake, orna- 
mented with two bedroom candles to signify eleven 
— as was explained to the guests — occupied the 
center of the table, flanked on either side by a 
Jarge vase of lovely violets, which some girls had 



34 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

opportunely brought me. The children of the Is- 
land keep me so generously supplied with flowers, 
both from the garden and fields, that if my stor^ 
of tin cans was not limitless I should be in de^ 
spair. This evening there are ten or twelve vases 
of exquisite forget-me-nots, fragrant little Eng- 
lish roses with darling buds, purple iris and red 
pitcher plant blossoms in our two living rooms, 
besides the everfaithful buttercups. One little 
girl brought me several pansy, golden lily and for- 
get-me-not plants for our front garden to-day, 
which are especially welcome as most of our seeds 
were too discouraged by the northern spring to 
come up. 

But to return to Miss D.'s birthday soiree: 
Promptly at two the first guest arrived, while 
Emily and I were putting the last elegant touches 
to the dining room. Fortunately she was an in- 
timate friend of Annie's, so she sat on the rubbish 
box in the kitchen and conversed with her over 
the dish wiping. Most of the other guests came to 
the woodshed door and were ushered in through 
the kitchen. Ivy arrived about three, in a white 
dress adorned with a purple ribbon at the neck 
and a bright red one at the waist, her hair hang- 
ing in the profuse curls which come from tight 
braiding. Nearly every child handed her without 
a word, and usually without even a glance, a pack- 
age wrapped in newspaper and tied with 
black thread, containing a tea-cup with "Love 
the Giver" painted thereon in gilt, or a 



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Pains and Pleasures 35 

cut glass dish or cream, pitcher. Emily's 
and mj shouts of delighted admiration filled 
the room, as each new gift was disclosed, 
the silence being otherwise unbroken except for 
Ivy's inaudible "thank you" — prompted by Mrs. 
Greeley — and the whispers of the guests asking 
"who give that?" Ivy and Annie were in ecstasy 
over the gifts, and Annie fairly beamed and 
glowed with sisterly joy. After they had all been 
examined and laid out in state on the top of the 
machine, we adjourned to the porch to play "The 
Farmer in the Dell," for most of the children 
being unaccustomed to heat, were mopping their 
poor little brows and exclaiming that they were 
"fair killed" by the temperature of eighty odd. 
We played for a very long time, and peals 
of laughter arose whenever Emily or I was 
chosen for one of the characters, and when Emily 
took stout Mrs. Shearing for her "child," the ring 
was nearly dissolved in mirth. Then to cool off, 
we came in for the Magic Lantern Show. The 
Doctor had darkened the front room, and we 
spread papers on the floor for the children to sit 
on. When I called Annie in to ask her if she 
would help me move the sofa she replied "Yes'm. 
Oh, I can help you with anything, Mrs. Greeley !" 
It was really the most triumphant hour of her 
gray life, for she "fair doats" on Ivy and to see 
her the center of such an occasion was beyond her 
dearest dreams. Great was the laughter when 
Hugh would ask in showing a picture, "Isn't that 



36 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Ivy in the corner all dressed up for a party? I'd 
forgotten she was in this picture." He had some 
much appreciated pleasantry to offer with each 
slide, so that the ^'show" was a great success. 
Next we played "Little Sally Water'' on the 
porch, — or the front bridge, as most people say — 
and the children Avere very cunning in the way 
they acted the part. Then Mrs. Stuckless and I 
went to get the ice cream and left Emily to man- 
age "Drop the Handkerchief" and "Cat and 
Mouse." When everything was ready, E — took 
Mr. Shearing's autoharp and I my mandolin, and 
we played in a stirring manner "John Brown's 
Body," while Ivy headed the procession and led 
it into the dining room. They blew out the can- 
dles on the cake, and "passed words" and played 
"Neighbour, neighbour, how bist dee," and had a 
very merry time, though very few of them ate all 
their ice cream. Then we had charades, acting 
out Pilley's Island and Newfoundland in such ab- 
solutely plain fashion that it didn't seem possible 
they couldn't guess them, but mystery enshrouded 
them for the audience, none the less. A little be- 
fore six Mrs. Stuckless said she must go, and 
Hugh was asking me so audibly "why the deuce" 
the children didn't, that I said to them "Well, are 
you all looking for your hats? I'll get them for 
you." Mrs. S. told me afterwards that it is the 
custom here to stay until dark, which would have 
been after nine, so I was thankful I hadn't waited 
for them to make the first move. 



Pains and Pleasures 37 

You have asked me several questions about my 
housekeeping which I will try to answer now. 
Indeed I use the bread mixer, and with perfect 
success. The dry yeast wasn't ^^ively" at all 
when I used it alone, and it took me about fifteen 
hours to get the bread risen, but last time I mixed 
it with potato water and Hugh put a lamp in the 
stove to keep it warm all night, and it was up 
ready for making into loaves the next morning. 
Hugh is very fond of bread, so I have been thank- 
ful to have it so good. Emily will no doubt tell 
you of my extreme pride over my baking. I feel 
like little Pussy Willow who told her mother she 
was going to ask God to keep her from being 
vain because she could make such good bread! 
We greatly enjoy cinnamon rolls too, the rule for 
which is in my cook book, and which are very 
easy to make. Hugh got me a book on cooking 
fish which has proved invaluable, and I find it 
great fun to try the different rules and make vari- 
ous sauces. We have delicious fresh salmon, and 
lobsters are only five cents a piece. 

The other morning I rowed three miles down 
the harbour with the Pennys, who were going so 
that Mr. P. could get the fish out of his nets. We 
found two cod, two salmon, a trout, a herring and 
a lobster. One salmon had been eaten all but its 
head, probably by a lobster, Mr. P. said. We 
went past Pretty-Island and Pretty-Tickle, and 
they certainly were ! It was a beautiful trip, and 
coming back it "breezed up" so that we were able 



38 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

to sail in "goose wing,'^ (with a sail ont on either 
side). Emily will tell you what storybook char- 
acters Mr. and Mrs. P. are. She had taken two 
dry baking powder biscuits, which she calls buns, 
in a paper bag, to regale us with on the way home 
while father smoked his pipe, and wished we had 
just a drop of tea. 

Of the beauty of our house since Hugh has put 
down the Crex matting and our wonderful rugs 
and papered the front room with gray building 
paper, put on with red strips of wood, I dare not 
speak at this late hour. If Emily doesn't describe 
with awe and wonder every detail to you it won't 
be my fault. 

Elinor wanted to know when the mail boat 
leaves for Pilley's, so I add that it leaves Lewis- 
port Fridays at nine a. m. We get no mail by 
the Prospero. It all comes by the Clyde. 

August Jt, 1911. 
TO M. E. H. : 

There is so much to tell that I am at a loss to 
know where to begin : First, though, I must de- 
clare with all warmth that our work is even more 
interesting than we had expected, and the oppor- 
tunities for bringing something into lonely lives 
are more worth while than we had dared hope. 
The Island seems like a piece of drift wood left 
here forever while the tide of life goes by outside 
our narrows. When the mine was working, — an 
expression which has the force of a proverb here 



Pains and Pleasures 39 

• — the people were far more closely in touch with 
the world, the shops actually kept a reasonable 
supply of things to eat and to wear, and the men 
were sure of steady work to provide for their 
families' needs. Why, the church fair was known 
to make as much as thirty dollars during one of 
those golden years, and you were safe to charge 
twenty-five cents for a reserved seat at a "con- 
cert." But now, as H — would say, we have fallen 
into a state of "innocuous desuetude.'^ No great 
ships come into the harbour, nor are we stirred 
even by the far-away sight of one passing, for the 
Narrows run out for more than a mile before they 
open into Green Bay, which is itself, of course, 
just an arm of the sea. As a result, the people 
feel so entirely separate from the rest of the 
world that they even regulate their clocks to suit 
their private fancies, instead of following the 
course of the sun. Hardly two families agree as 
to the time, so their common method is to get to 
a place about half an hour before the appointed 
time and wait until everyone has assembled. We 
gave an afternoon tea party for Emily last Satur- 
day, and Mrs. Duder, one of the guests, who got 
here an hour before the rest, explained that it was 
four o'clock by their time, though it was five 
minutes of three by ours which we regulate by the 
mail boat. 

The weekly and fortnightly visits of the two 
mail and freight boats are by far the biggest events 
in the island. Friday is known as "Clyde day," 



40 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

and the one chief topic of conversation is the prob- 
able time of her arrival. I am keeping one eye out 
now for the sight of a dark column of smoke be- 
yond the hills, which foretells her coming. I 
can't speak of a boat in the neuter gender since 
Tve lived here. Last Sunday she took Emily 
away from us, after a glorious two months. She 
had made friends of all the islanders and was 
presented with many "keepsakes/' — cut glass 
dishes and pitchers and drawn work squares 
which represented much kind affection. We or- 
ganized a Boy Scouts Club while she was here to 
give the boys some occupation other than spitting 
and throwing stones at birds, both of which prac- 
tices are forbidden in our laws. I wish you could 
see their eager interest in the club. We have been 
lent a house which the boys are making furniture 
for, and there is a house committee which ap- 
points two caretakers for each week to scrub the 
floors and keep everything in order. This is the 
first nonsectarian organization in the island, and 
I am hoping that if it grows and prospers with 
the years, it may in time help to break down the 
prejudice for sectarian schools. We have a Cath- 
olic President and a Methodist secretary, and 
have just taken in a member from the Salvation 
Army. 

Last Friday night all the Scouts and we gave 
a concert for their benefit, which was a great 
success and heartily enjoyed by performers and 
audience alike. They had learned "Let the King 



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Pains and Pleasures 41 

Keign" from the "Coming of Arthur," and sang it 
as the opening number with appropriate march- 
ing and sword raising to salute the King. They 
really did it in a very spirited way, and Mrs. G — 
preceded it by a little talk on the similarity of 
ideals in the Knights of the Eound Table and 
the Boy Scouts. We had the pledge and laws of the 
club written on the front blackboard so that the 
people would know what it stands for, and before 
the last number — "Eule Brittania" sung by the 
boys to the accompaniment of a mouth organ, a 
parlor organ and widely waving flags — an invi- 
tation was given to all the other boys on the is- 
land to come and join. It was a very stirring oc- 
casion, and I heard from all sides the next day, 
"Mrs. Greeley, 'twas grand, ma'am." 

Since beginning this two days have slipped by, 
and I am now with my husband on board the 
aforementioned Clyde bound for St. John's to in- 
terview the Premier about the hospital. Such 
glorious sights as we have been passing! Green 
Bay is called the Norway of Newfoundland, and 
it is easy to see why when you look at the great 
dark cliffs rising one above another, sometimes 
thickly wooded, sometimes bare, rough rock, 
with the misty darkness of clouds moving behind 
them, or white gulls flying wildly across their 
face. We passed all this in the night when we 
came in May, so it is a new delight to us both. 
Great are our hopes of this visit to the Premier, 
for there is no doubt of the great need for a hos- 



A2 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

pital in Green Bay, or of the readiness of the peo- 
ple to do their part. Hugh has collected three 
hundred names of men who will pay the annual 
fee of five dollars, and this in the height of the 
fishing season when a large number were away on 
the French shore or the Labrador. It would make 
your heart ache, Mary, to see how pitifully poor 
and barren the lives of most of the people are. 
When I look at a man or woman who has grown 
old in some bare, little hovel, often with never a 
glimpse of any life beyond their harbour, I often 
think to myself "What have you got out of it all, 
anyway?'' Sometimes H — is called to see an old 
couple who live quite by themselves in a lonely 
cove, wdth an adopted daughter of about fourteen 
to help with the work. The man is partly blind 
and lame, the old woman so bowed over as to be 
almost a cripple, and both of them seem a little 
childlike in their w^ay of speaking. Think what 
that girPs life is, when the winter shuts her off 
from the nearest harbour, and she sits all day in 
the kitchen with those two old people ! Do you 
remember poor Miss Flite in Bleak House, who 
had named all her birds after the characteristics 
of the Court of Chancery? If she had lived here 
and wanted to symbolize the life, she would have 
called them "Poverty, loneliness, hardship, cold, 
bread, molasses and tea !'' 

The girls are very anxious to have me start a 
club for them on the island, and I am going to do 
it in the fall after the Boy Scouts are better able 



Pains and Pleasures 43 

to direct themselves. Hugh is so busy making 
visits to distant places and seeing patients on the 
island that he can't give as much time to the club 
as he would like, and the boys need someone to 
direct them at every meeting. 

Since the house has been settled, I have done 
some reading for pure pleasure, and how I have 
enjoyed it. Hugh and I want to have a reading 
club for the people this winter, and I shall collect 
material for it when we come down in the fall. 
We have read various things at the "Epworth 
League" meetings at the church, which were so 
appreciated it makes us want to do more. A 
friendly book agent on the Florizel gave us a 
package of children's books, which have been bor- 
rowed far and wide and read by the children and 
their parents with keenest delight. "I fair 
laughed when I read ^Funny Folks,' " they all tell 
us, and whenever a child comes for a new book 
she tells us the old one was "lovely" or "grand." 

It all seems more satisfying than I can show in. 
a letter, and I am going to try to write down our 
experiences this winter, so as to give people a bet- 
ter idea of them. Keligion on the island seems to 
us a pitiful attempt, but I think the people get 
more out of it than seems possible at first. One of 
their favorite hymns implores, 

''Sink us to perfection's heigM, 
The depth of perfect love.'* 



44 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Hugh and I were singing in the choir last Sunday 
when these lines were reached, and we had diffi- 
culty in getting through them. 

August 6, 1911. 

Behold us — my husband and me — on the porch 
of the inn at Eockport, which Hugh has chris- 
tened "The City of Dreadful Night'' since read- 
ing Emily's account of her stay here. We had a 
telegram from Mr. H., our friend at court, yester- 
day, saying that the Premier, without committing 
himself, will be glad to see Hugh in regard to the 
hospital plan, so we decided to take the Clyde 
this morning. Mr. Stuckless thought it would get 
to Pilley's between six and seven, so we planned 
to arise at the witching hour of five thirty, but a 
few minutes before that time we were wakened 
by the fateful sound of the whistle in the nar- 
rows. Emily will realize how we felt. We gave 
one leap, and I do not hesitate to say that I felt a 
moderate degree of pride when I found myself 
dressed even to my hat and coat, the last things 
put into our bags, a glass of milk drunk by each 
of us, and saw us on our way to the boat just 
twelve minutes after the whistle blew. The faith- 
ful Annie, arrayed in a new blue and white mus- 
lin gown, was on the wharf with Ivy to wave us 
good-bye, and we sailed out of the harbour on one 
of the most glorious mornings of sun and brisk 
air and shining water that ever dawned on an 
island. 



Pains and Pleasures 45 

Our whole day has been beautiful from begin- 
ning to end, and I was carried away by my first 
sight of Green Bay, which we passed through in 
the night last May. Emily will tell you about its 
wonderful cliffs and peaks rising one behind an- 
other, and E., do justice to the beauty of Fortune 
Harbour! There was a Boston man on board, 
who had spent the night at Mrs. Penny's, on his 
way back from a month's camping trip on the 
west coast and Indian River at Springdale. 
Hugh fell atalking with him and introduced 
"his wife," a word which still makes me laugh, 
and we saw a great deal of him all day. He was 
very interesting in his descriptions of his experi- 
ences, which made me long to get into the woods 
myself. We got off the boat at Cottle's Cove and 
walked across the two miles to Fortune, thus 
avoiding the roughest part of the water. We 
found a few sweet, wild strawberries on the way 
and drank at a pleasant little brook, so that to- 
gether with the sight of blue iris and yellow 
primroses and many wooded hills and fields, w^e 
were well repaid for our walk. The sea was won- 
derful to behold just outside Fortune, with the 
surf breaking white and high against gray rocks 
in midchannel, and a tremendous swell which 
sent long rollers in upon the beaches, and made 
us roll from side to side until I wondered we came 
up safely. Like frugal missionaries we had taken 
some lunch with us, and though it was somewhat 
curtailed by our abrupt departure, we made two 



46 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

satisfying meals off bread and butter, crackers 
and cheese and cookies, and had the great ad- 
vantage of fresh air in which to eat it. Poor E., 
I thought of her when I went into the "Ladies' 
Cabin," reeking of disinfectants, and pictured it 
full of sleeping occupants on a rainy day. She 
really should have waited another week. 

When we reached Kockport w^e left our bags 
here, and then walked down by the waterside and 
found a shady place to sit where Hugh read aloud 
from Barchester Towers. Our tea here was ex- 
cellent, much to my surprise, and we ate heartily 
of venison and "lovely" bread with jam and cake 
and a "beautiful drop of tea" for dessert. 

Mrs. Forward and Mrs. Vierge came over Fri- 
day evening and brought us a dish of "bake ap- 
ples," and w^ere much interested in hearing of 
Miss E.'s trip. 

I told the Boy Scouts the story you sent about 
the lost child and urged them to be inspired by 
the ideal, though we haven't had the luck to lose a 
child on the island as yet. The jokes were much 
appreciated as were your all too generous trib- 
utes. I am sure we gave you a very dull time, 
compared to the entertainment you afforded the 
entire island. 

I went with Hugh to Dark Tickle yesterday to 
see a patient and was greatly entertained by an 
old couple I met there. I was walking by the 
house waiting for Hugh, when an old woman in a 
skirt of many colors, it was so patched, came after 




Fortune Harbor and Church Bell by Tree 




The Boy Scouts and Their Club House 



Pains and Pleasures 47 

me and called in a shrill voice, "Don^t 'ee use the 
road. Come inside a bit, can't 'ee?'' I thanked 
her and followed her into a clean, newly scrubbed 
kitchen and was introduced to her man, who sat 
at the table tying a line for a fish hook. He 
worked with but one hand, holding the line 
against the worsted mitten w^hich covered the 
stump of the other. They were both very cordial, 
the old woman showing her entire upper gum in 
a beaming smile at my dullest remark. "'E 'av 
your sister with ye, aven't ye?'' she wanted to 
know, showing that E.'s fame has spread. "No 
strange news from Pilley's, I suppose," she in- 
quired later, so hopefully that I racked my mind 
for some possible item, but could think of none 
except the arrival of the Clyde, and that she knew. 
After we had sat for awhile, the man looked at 
her with a fixed gaze w^hich I guessed the meaning 
of, but which she failed to understand, as she sat 
by the window patching a petticoat even more 
variegated than the skirt she wore. Presently he 
said in explanation, "Perhaps the lady w^ould like 
a cup of tea," but the lady quickly refused, know- 
ing what its strength would be. Coming home, 
we had the wind right at our back, so we sailed 
at w^onderful speed and had a glorious time. 

The Boy Scouts had a meeting in the afternoon, 
at which they empowered us to buy them ten 
bathing suits, six baseballs and one football in 
St. John's. Two new members came from Head's 
Harbour. 



48 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

.We expect to stay with the K.'s in St. John's. 
I will let you know as soon as anything is settled 
with the Premier. Hugh has drawn up a splendid 
brief, which certainly ought to convince him. 

Pilley's Island, 
Newfoundland, 
August 12, 1911. 

Our trip to St. John's was a great pleasure and 
we enjoyed every minute of it. I wore all my wed- 
ding journey clothes and felt as though we were 
on a second honeymoon so deep was our delight 
in being off together with no patients to annoy. 
We stayed at Topsail from Tuesday until Thurs- 
day and had bathing, walking and a picnic to en- 
tertain us, besides many hours spent under the 
trees reading and talking. 

Our trip home yesterday on the Clyde was won- 
derfully beautiful. It was warm enough so that 
we could sit out all day on deck, enjoying the sky 
and sea. We reached Pilley's Island about nine 
o'clock, and I was surprised to see how much it 
seemed like home, after an absence. The Boy 
Scouts were giving their patrol calls from the 
wharf as we steamed up to it, and the faithful 
Stucklesses, Shearings, Mr. Forward and Annie 
were down to greet us. Annie had the house in 
perfect order, the vases filled with fresh flowers, 
and the week's baking done. She had put up six 
quarts of raspberries, too, at my suggestion, and 
she was so pleased at the success of all her labours 



Pains and Pleasures 49 

that it was beautiful to behold. "Self expres- 
sion," my friends, in that lies the secret of happi- 
ness ! I had brought her a housemaid's dress from 
St. John's as she has only one thin working cos- 
tume and suffers greatly from the heat in the 
kitchen. 

This afternoon the scouts met, and we showed 
them the ten bathing suits, the football flask, the 
six pocket knives for prizes, and the scout maga- 
zines and book which they had commissioned us 
to buy from the proceeds of the concert. Four 
boys had learned the scout law and history of the 
flag while we were gone. Con. Sutton and Steve 
and Fred had run over to Spenser's Dock and 
back in eighteen minutes. Herb. May had done 
the half mile in six, and they had made a new 
bench and towel rack for the club room, so I felt 
proud of their energy, as this is the first time they 
have directed themselves. After the meeting H — 
and I took them down to the wharf and had our 
first swimming lessons. They were pathetically 
afraid, most of them, but kept at it pluckily. 

It^s rather late, so I must reluctantly close. 



ni 

WORK AND PLAY 

August 19, 1911. 

WHAT a world it is when the Clyde brings 
me a mail like that of last night! I 
read and read and read, forgetting to 
set bread until so late that I tremble to think 
what the doctor will say if he finds it out. He 
had to go off on the boat to Boot Harbour to see 
a man with a pain in his side, and expected to go 
on from there to Springdale, coming back in Mr. 
Brown's launch to-night. It is now seven o'clock 
and I don't hear the boat even out beyond the nar- 
rows, so I don't know at what time we shall have 
supper. There is a corn pudding in the oven, new 
potatoes — a gift from Mrs. Forward — set aside to 
keep warm, and cinnamon rolls and a blueberry 
pie and a loaf of gingerbread cooling against his 
coming, so I can sit and write with a clear con- 
science until I hear the boat. The neighbours are, 
as usual, kindness itself when H — goes off for over 
night. Last Monday he left for Little Bay and 
Little Bay Island, and the Stucklesses at once 
asked me to take tea with them, and Minnie said 
she would sleep here to keep me company. In the 
evening when I came back Mr. and Mrs. Forward 

50 



Work and Play 51 

came to see me, having heard that ^^the skipper 
had gone off" and I might be lonely, they thought. 
Dear Mrs. Forward brought me a dozen fresh 
eggs, and wanted to know whether we had en- 
joyed "the bit of fresh that father had given us." 
The "fresh,'' which means any kind of fresh meat, 
had been some delicious venison from a caribou 
he and Mr. Duder had shot and dragged sixteen 
miles through the woods. Yesterday Mrs. F. sent 
me two cakes of soap that she had made, and I 
was glad to have some strawberry ice cream to 
give to her. "Father" had "never in his life tasted 
it" he told me, so I feel that this is a memorable 
summer when you put that with his first railway 
journey. 

Speaking of making ice cream, in reading over 
some of mother's letters this week, I came across 
the question in regard to making bricks without 
straw^, so to speak. Perhaps Emily has told you 
that I made a custard foundation for the choco- 
late ice cream, which really didn't taste, though 
I can see Mrs. M.'s look of skeptical disgust at the 
thought. But I shall never take the time to do so 
again, for the strawberry ice cream yesterday we 
made with condensed milk, and it was so smooth 
and delicious, I couldn't have told whether it was 
all cream. I don't know w^hy we always looked 
upon frozen desserts as such an achievement, for 
it takes H — and me twenty minutes from the time 
we decide to have it to the completion of the freez- 
ing. We have an excellent freezer, which perhaps 



52 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

mates some difference; it is a great joy to me to 
hdve an ice whenever I want it, with so little 
trouble and expense. It is a great pleasure, too, 
to pass it around to the appreciative neighbours. 
Poor Mother Penny, you will be sorry to hear, 
has been having the most wonderful punishment 
imaginable with the fragment of a tooth, and has 
been in bed with acute pain in her face and head, 
and in fact all over her body, most of this week. 
She has never been sick before for so long in all 
the sixty years of her life, and she was a picture 
of woe and despair when I went over to see her. 
Her face was badly swollen, which for some rea- 
son made her look strikingly like an Indian, an 
impression which was strengthened by her black 
hair combed straight back, and the mocassins she 
wore. The invaluable doctor had her go to bed, 
and I read to her as much as I could, and took her 
custard and soup, for the spirited "Mrs. Lard" — 
as H — calls her — was too occupied with hooking 
a mat to spend any time in her mother's room. 
She improved, however, by the end of the week, 
so I've somewhat softened toward her. I took 
Mrs. P. some ice cream yesterday and could hard- 
ly help smiling when the poor soul poked the 
spoon miserably between her swollen lips and 
fairly groaned out, "Oh, 'tis beautiful, ma'am!" 
She is up to-day and feeling decidedly better, so 
I hope she can have the tooth out on Monday. 

I wish you could see my husband help me with 
the preserving, and contrive all sorts of conveni- 



Work and Play 53 

ent housekeeping arrangements. We have over 
two dozen cans of fruit put up for the winter, and 
a great many jars and glasses of jam, and to-day 
I made my first jelly, which, unlike Meg's actual- 
ly "jelled" ! It is from "squash berries" and looks 
perfectly clear. 

The Boy Scouts met this afternoon and we had 
a most successful time. All the charter members 
are now regular tenderfoots, having learned the 
laws, and the history of the Union Jack, and the 
tying of four standard knots. Steve has earned 
three honors, and Fred and Con. two, so they were 
each given one of the prize knives to-day with the 
cheers of the club. We all went down to the pier 
to see them dive from the schooner, two of them 
from a point six feet high and Steve from one 
fourteen, — the bowsprit. Gus, Herman, Lester 
and a new boy. Jack Powers, had their second 
swimming lesson, though the water was so cold 
they could stay in only a few minutes. Our 
warm weather seems to be all over, and yesterday 
the west wind howled and shrieked around the 
house in a truly wintry way. Two members can't 
read so I am going to teach them how. * * * 

Hugh got back in time for us to have supper 
at half past nine after doing up a lot of medicines 
to send back on the launch. 

Septemler 2, 1911. 

Mr. T.'s motor boat is at last finished and 
"lanched" and it is a beauty. All the prominent 



54 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Pilleyers were invited to take a ride in her yester- 
dajr afternoon, and we had a very pleasant trip 
outside the narrows and back, getting home just 
as it started to rain. It fairly poured all the eve- 
ning and most of the night, I guess, so that our 
parched wells are filled and our barrel is ready 
for wash day. There has been such a dearth of 
water lately, that Hugh and I rowed over to 
Lowry Batt's Cove Thursday evening and brought 
back a barrelful from the well there. Mrs. For- 
ward has been sending us a bottleful with the 
milk each day, as that in our well looked like mud 
and tasted worse. Mr. Duder and the doctor are 
making out a chart of the wells on the island to 
give to Magistrate Wells, who has been asked by 
the government to make a report, so perhaps 
something will be done. 

We haven't heard yet from the Premier, though 
he promised three weeks ago to let us know by the 
next mail whether he will give a grant to our 
hospital. We thought there would surely be a 
letter yesterday but none came, so Hugh tele- 
graphed him to-day, asking him if he could wire 
his decision. It is very trying, for if they do give 
the grant, it will be very difficult to get the hos- 
pital started for the fall work, and it puts off our 
visit home at least another month. It's awfully 
hard on Hugh, for everything is at a standstill 
until this is settled. 



,Work and Play; 55 

Septemher 2, 1911. 
Since writing this much, "Mete" has been down 
to ask us to come to Bert's birthday party about 
six o'clock, so up we went, carrying a handsome 
colored picture from Miss Gray's box, of a lady 
reading to two little girls. When we got there, the 
yard was filled with the children and three or 
four neighbours added, and Bert was in the act 
of pulling a white goat into the kitchen by one 
horn. Emily will realize how they were all beam- 
ing at the thought of the party, and how much 
laughter arose at the doctor's witticisms. Mrs. 
W. said that the party had been arranged entirely 
so that Bert might have the doctor come on her 
birthday, as she has been asking for this privilege 
ever since she has known him. Mete milked the 
goat in the back entry while Mrs. W. and I set 
the table ; the poor woman can't walk very easily 
yet, but she gets up at four every morning and 
goes to bed at eleven in order to get all the work 
done. She has to wash about three days in the 
week to keep the children clean. She spoke with 
the greatest interest and affection of her late 
nurse, wishing that she might be with us this eve- 
ning, and that she would come back next summer. 
She was so sorry, she said, to have had no better 
keepsake to give you, but she wanted to send 
somethyig, so had got the dish. She remembers 
the wonderful book you read her, with bated ad- 
miration, and says she doesn't know how many 
times she has told people about that grand story. 



56 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

She would be very glad to have the loan of it, so 
that she might finish it. The Ensign and Leften- 
ant from the Salvation Army were the other 
guests, and when the table was ready Mrs. W. 
said, "All hands sit down," and put the doctor 
at the head of the table. We had a very nice tea, 
and Mrs. W. performed the duties of a hostess by 
asking us at intervals if we were "enjoying'^ it, or 
admonishing the Ensign to do so when he grew 
too talkative. The children played about in the 
yard or sat inside as we ate, and Mete rocked 
Charlie to sleep in the big chair. They certainly 
are as bright and attractive children as I have 
ever seen, and I am going to have them come down 
here as often as I can. The Ensign asked a bless- 
ing at the beginning of the meal and returned 
thanks after it, so the Harmy was not neglected. 

We went to the Harmy picnic last Thursday at 
Spenser's dock, at the invitation of Mrs. Duder. 
It was given in two fields on opposite sides of the 
road, and the smell of drying fish wafted to us 
from the wharf was "something wonderful." I 
am going to describe it at length in a story which 
I hope to write soon, so I won't take time to now. 

The scouts continue to grow and prosper, and 
are playing football as well as baseball. I am 
going to have a class in the three R's every Mon- 
day evening for the benefit of those that can't go 
to school. We have one new member who can't 
read at all, and Jack Moores is teaching him the 
laws and history of the flag. I started them in 




Ben Anthony and His Ox Team 




The Old Couple's Home in the Lonely Cove 



Work and Play 57 

playing Fox and Goose to-day to teach them how 
to do the tracking required for a second class 
scout, and they seemed much interested. I'm cer- 
tainly devoted to them. Next week Hugh is going 
to give them a talk on the use of the tooth brush, 
as a gi'oss have arrived from Miss Gray at his re- 
quest. Pearl uses one with enjoyment now. 

Last Tuesday evening the doctor spoke at the 
Epworth League on "Prohibition and Moral Ke- 
form" — Excellent, interesting and instructive. I 
wish you could have heard the reverential way in 
which Mr. G. introduced him and the other speak- 
ers referred to him ! I "fair laughed." I gave your 
message, E., to Mrs. Penny, and she said, "Poor 
soul, Pd like to see her again!" (Reason for ad- 
jective, not given.) She and Mr. P. sent their 
"regards" as did the Stucklesses. 

September 15, 1911. 

How time rolls and rolls and rolls his ceaseless 
course! Each week seems to fly by faster than 
the last, though we don't live in such a whirl here 
as to warrant such an effect. I think it must be 
partly the effect of my schedule which I made out 
some time ago, and which has been a great help in 
accomplishing something every day, though I al- 
most never keep to it! It includes an hour of 
sewing, an hour of practising — I can now play 
the accompaniments to Little Boy Blue and 
Punchinello, besides several hymns with marked 
spirit — an hour or more of writing, — I have 



58 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

nearly finished "Livvy Tizzer's Gala Day'' — an 
houl* of letter writing, but this of course I don't 
do, besides an hour for rest and several for recre- 
ation and reading. I feel the family curse upon 
me when I start to read, for then nothing else has 
the slightest attraction for me. Just now I am 
rereading Bleak House with the most absorbed 
interest, and there is really no excuse for that. 
I have read about ten most delightful books this 
summer, the list I believe I sent you before. One 
comforting feature is that I never waste time on 
trash, for we brought only good books and the 
only magazines we see are the Digest and Bibelot 
— and the latter we usually skim. 

"The Doctor" is certainly the "handiest man 
about the house" I ever imagined. He has made 
a perfect bath tub out of a wooden frame and a 
rubber sheet, and I never knew what an absolute 
luxury and joy a hot bath is until I took my first 
for several months! He carries the washboiler 
full of hot water upstairs and fills the tub, and 
afterwards empties the tub and carries the water 
downstairs so that I have a bath as easily as I 
could at home. Words fail me when I consider 
such nobility. His latest achievement, finished 
to-day, is a desk fastened to the low shelf in the 
dining room. I am using it now with the greatest 
ease and satisfaction. The top lifts up, and un- 
derneath are stored our writing materials in the 
neatest manner possible. The legs are made of a 
board which happened to be painted white, so we 



Work and Play 59 

think we'll let the top remain in its natural 
state, like the lily. The famous box from Austin 
Nichols did come, Emily, and I meant to write 
about it last week. You can imagine my shrieks 
of delight at each new package it contained. I 
shall draw upon them to-morrow when I give an 
afternoon event in honor — Hugh says in celebra- 
tion — of Mrs. L.'s departure. We are to have 
raspberry ice thriftily made from a jar which 
wasn- 1 air tight. 

I wish you could have eaten some of our ice 
cream with chocolate sauce yesterday, made from 
one can of evaporated and one pint of fresh milk. 
Nothing could be easier, and it was really de- 
licious. There was some left to-day in the freezer, 
so Annie and I made an -equally delicious apple 
pie which we served a la mode. For fear my hus- 
band won't have time to speak of our meals, this 
week, I really must mention them for I grow 
prouder daily. This noon we had creamed chick- 
en, macaroni and cheese, dressed lettuce from our 
garden, apple pie as above stated, and black cof- 
fee, and it was all prepared without the slightest 
difficulty. The cooking for a family of this size 
is really just a pastime, — particularly when 
you've trained Annie to do everything! The 
other day we made Scotch Broth from a shoulder 
of mutton and vegetables, and I was carried away 
by it. Miss Farmer has some excellent rules for 
using the cheaper cuts of meat. If anyone writea 
to J — this month I wish he would tell her that 



60 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

that cook book has been more to me than light and 
air.' We have bought fifteen cans of delicious lob- 
ster, some of which we had in a salad last Sunday. 
I mention these culinary details, because I re- 
member — without the slightest rancor, I hasten 
to add — the many expressions of doubt and fear 
uttered by certain females of my acquaintance, 
and I am glad to be able to set their anxious 
minds at rest. Annie is really incredibly happy 
in her work and told me last week, "Next winter 
you won't even have to do so much as wash the 
dishes on Monday, ma'am, 'cause when I live here 
I'll have more time to work evenings." We have 
fixed a few simple appointments in the attic bed- 
room, so that she may "tidy" there in the after- 
noon, and she is so pleased with it that I am 
ashamed not to have thought of it before. I am 
teaching her how to read and write and she gets 
on finely; my other pupil — the Boy Scout — is 
doing far better than I had supposed he could 
after the first lesson. He came to the house one 
morning to ask me, "Mrs. Greeley, is you goin' to 
keep school to-day?" 

Annie is beginning to save money for her fare 
to the States, for I was troubled to see how she 
wasted her very scanty wages on candy and cheap 
lace. So I talked with her about the need of 
learning how to spend money before she goes to 
the city, and she is going to try to get along on a 
dollar a month, except when her family need help. 
I shall send to St. John's for her clothes so that 



Work and Play 61 

she can get better material and less trimming for 
the price. I made her a little book and Hugh 
printed most beautifully on the cover, "Cash Ac- 
count, Annie Fudge/' much to her delight. 

The party yesterday afternoon was a great suc- 
cess. We toasted marshmallows for the first time 
on Pilley's Island besides playing the much en- 
joyed "Clumps." My guests' enjoyment of the 
"beautiful" refreshments — prepared after dinner 
in about an hour's time — was pathetic. It is such 
a pleasure to do anything for these people. Last 
Tuesday I read "Where Love is there God is also" 
at "the League," and couldn't have asked for more 
appreciation. They all thought it perfectly won- 
derful, and showed it by their attention while I 
read. 

We have been having a beautiful day, beginning 
with our leisurely start at eight o'clock. Hugh 
got breakfast and I stayed in bed until seven, so 
I am well prepared for a night on the Newfound- 
land railroad. 

I'll write again from St. John's, if we hear any- 
thing definite. 

September 22, 1911, 

Behold me again on board the Clyde, this time 
alone, as H — got off at Fortune to hold a meeting 
there and let them know the result of our trip to 
St. John's. We have met the enemy and he is 
ours to the extent of a thousand a year, with the 
promise of more if the work warrants it. Hugh 



62 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

wishes now he had asked for five thousand instead 
of three, for then a third of it would be nearer 
what we need, but everyone we talked to in St. 
John's was so astonished that the Government 
would do that much that we feel more pleased 
than discouraged. There is still a chance of get- 
ting another five hundred dollars annually from 
the tuberculosis fund ; unfortunately Mr. Harvey, 
who has it in charge, was away during our visit 
so Hugh couldn't see him. However, Hugh has 
decided to start the hospital, since he has been 
given enough to equip it and it can be run for a 
year without any expense to the Mission or us, 
since there are no salaries to be paid. It is a tre- 
mendous relief to us both to have the matter set- 
tled after so long a delay, and not the least pleas- 
ing feature, I may say, is that we can now feel 
sure of our trip home ! I shall join Hugh on the 
Prospero to-morrow, and we shall go to St. An- 
thony's to see Dr. Grenfell, and shall try to have 
Bunty come back on it with us. He has closed 
Indian Harbour and is now at Battle, expecting 
to leave the end of this month. If he can get away 
on such short notice, he and Hugh will spend ten 
days canvassing the Bay for names, and then my 
husband and I can leave October eighth for the 
States ! Of course this is still not definite, but I 
can't help writing it since it looks fairly promis- 
ing. It will have to be a short visit, for H — 
wants to be back early in November to help Bunty 



Work and Play 63 

with the operations that have been accumulating 
this summer. 

I was interrupted here by a woman who asked 
me if I was "the Doctor's Lady/' and who wanted 
to introduce a friend who was going to St. An- 
thony's to-morrow for her seventh operation, the 
other six having been performed elsewhere. I've 
just been talking to the poor soul who kept wiping 
her eyes as she told me about her three children 
who are left behind and who won't be able to hear 
for a fortnight how she is doing. "If there was 
only a hospital at Pilley's Island," she said, and 
this is what we hear all over the Bay. "The chil- 
dren bore it wonderful hard when I left this 
morning, and I can't feel contented myself to go," 
she added, with more wiping of the eyes. H — 
and I have decided that we never again can accept 
the comforts and luxuries of our civilized life at 
home with the same unquestioning, matter of 
course spirit that we used to. We have seen too 
much of hardship and barrenness, ever to look 
upon comfort as a necessity again. If you could 
have seen us sitting up all night in a day coach 
last Sunday, and actually sleeping in the midst 
of snores and crying babies, you Avould realize 
that I, at least, have changed! We had tele- 
graphed ahead two days before for berths, but 
when we got on the train at half past eleven after 
a day spent on the boat and at the Rockport 
hotel, and a long wait at Notre Dame Junction, 
we were greeted by a smiling porter with the news 



64 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

that they were ^^all full.^^ Fortunately it was 
raining hard, so we were able to keep our window 
wide open without getting dusty, and I shameless- 
ly put my head on Hugh's shoulder and went to 
sleep. Mrs. Shearing, Mrs. Fistere and the baby 
were in the same car, and our lot seemed easy 
compared to theirs, for they had to take turns in 
holding Kalph, while the train shrieked and 
whistled and squealed along its way. I have 
never known a rail to whistle as these do. Life 
at St. John's at the Balsam Place seemed the lap 
of luxury, especially when I saw that they had 
bananas for dessert! I hope the fruit season 
won't be over when we get home, for the hart 
panting for the water brook is nothing to my de- 
sire for fresh fruit. We saw the Premier that 
afternoon, and he promised to give H — his an- 
swer on Wednesday. 

That afternoon a Mrs. Ellis called on me and 
asked us to tea. I had told her husband that 
morning about seeing his sister in Boston and he 
was most pleased. We had a very enjoyable time, 
and were greatly interested in meeting them. 

The next morning it poured, but we had to go 
down to hear the Premier's decision and then buy 
supplies for the hospital. You ought to have seen 
me handling unbleached cottons with a profes- 
sional air and driving shrewd bargains. We real- 
ly did an excellent trick, if I may say so, and 
spent remarkably little money. 



Work and Play 65 

I am now at home waiting for the Prospero, with 
hags repacked and an expectant thrill at the 
thought of going "down north on the Labrador.'' 

October 5, 1911. 
Alas for the best laid plans of mice and men^ 
especially when the men are doctors ! Hugh and 
Bunty have decided that they must spend this 
month canvassing the bay for subscribers to the 
hospital in order to insure enough of an income 
to keep it going this winter; which means, of 
course, that we can't take our trip home together. 
Hugh insists that I shall go, as he will be cruising 
round most of the time so that I should be alone 
on the island if I stayed, and we are anxious to 
get various supplies and donations in the States 
for our winter's work. It is a grievous disap- 
pointment, but H — says he would feel so much 
worse if I stayed that I have decided to go alone. 
Mrs. Brown, one of our neighbours who has 
helped me occasionally with the housework, has 
promised to act as housekeeper and I have 
planned the meals in advance with her. Bunty 
is here now and Miss Gleason is expected from 
Battle Harbour next week so he will have com- 
panionship when he comes back to the Island be- 
tween trips, and I shall plan to be here by the 
time the canvassing is over. I shall probably take 
the Clyde with him next week when he goes to 
Fortune Harbour, so that we can at least start 
out together. 



66 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS FROM H. P. G. 
• TO F. E. G. : 

Novemher, 1911. 

* * * Before going further I will tell you that 
I am on the Prospero bound to visit the sick at 
Fortune Harbour. Bunty is going to see Mrs. 
Brown and try to get her to do the nursing till 
Miss Gleason comes from Battle Harbour, and 
we will try to find someone else to do the scrub- 
bing and cooking. Bunty and I will stick close to 
the hospital and give up monthly calls this week 
and go ahead without a nurse. We telegraphed 
Miss Gleason to come on the Home and by rail, so 
that if she does that she will be here next Friday. 

Sunday I shall go to Fortune again, and end up 
at home Friday, going north on the Clyde and 
getting back the week after, then taking the 
Springdale circuit and getting back in time to get 
the house ready for you. The Clyde is very late 
this week, owing to her being on the rock so long. 
Whenever she comes, I shall take her back as I 
refuse to miss my mail again. We are now at 
Leading Tickles. * * * 

Friday : Well, Miss Gleason didn't come. She 
and Dr. Grieve write that three cases of typhoid, 
two very sick, are at Battle Harbour and nobody 
to take care of them. 

Pilley's Island. 

When we awoke this morning it was snowing 
hard but it didn't last long enough for the ground 



Work and Play 67 

to get \evj white. The beautiful, bleak, bare hills 
of Pilley's Island look even more beautiful in 
winter garb ! 

I am very much afraid that we are in for a dis- 
appointment and that Miss Gleason has been un- 
able again to get away from Battle. We tele- 
graphed to the Prospero which is on her way and 
asked Miss G — to let us know whether she was 
on it, but have received no reply. 

Bunty is now at the Boy Scouts' Club rooms. 
They have their stove in and one room papered 
with the paper we picked out in St. John's. 

Filley's Island Hospital. 

Having put our typhoids to bed and tucked 
them in for the forty-eleventh time to-night, or 
this morning rather, and filled the kerosene lamp, 
I renew this epistle to tell you my calendar of 
news. When I wrote you last, the Clyde had just 
come from the north, but not bringing Bunty nor 
the typhoids. We almost gave them up, till they 
appeared next day at noon (Saturday) ; two boys, 
about fifteen and sixteen, both very sick, one de- 
lirious. I had telegraphed Miss Gleason at Lew- 
isport to see if she could come on by motorboat, 
but she wired she had gone to Exploits and would 
catch the Prospero. I had also spent the morning 
fixing her room at the hospital : Wardrobe with 
beautiful strips of stars and stripes bunting for 
curtain, washstand with blue checked oilcloth 



68 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

cover and shelf, curtain for the window from my 
surgery and one of our green rugs. 

Friday night Bunty and I kept watch over the 
typhoids. I slept from ten-thirty to three-thirty 
and watched the rest of the night. Had three 
hours off Saturday morning to shave and wash 
my face and get mail off to the north. After din- 
ner I specialed the typhoids till six p. m. when 
we had supper, Miss Gleason having arrived just 
that moment. We're in great luck to get her just 
now, for she's a wonder at nursing without any 
finicky notions and always ready to do whatever 
turns up. We are probably in for a run of pa- 
tients as Bunty found four more typhoid cases 
at King's Point sick at home. He had a public 
meeting and talked preventive medicine. Last 
night (Saturday) we thought we would give Miss 
Gleason a rest and Bunty and I would do the 
honors, so I went to bed at eight-thirty and slept 
till one- forty -five when it was time for my shift. 
The typhoids are somewhat improved, one es- 
pecially. The other is still delirious and refuses 
to drink, even, without coaxing. 

The Boy Scouts did not meet yesterday, as they 
were skating. The next rehearsal of the actors in 
the Mystery Play is I know not when, but I think 
Mrs. Stuckless and I will drill them separately. 
Yesterday, having several days before constructed 
a "potato cellar" in our storeroom with boxes 
and hay in fireless cooker style, I swept the store- 



Work and Play 69 

room, dining room, kitchen and pantry, scrubbed 
the tables and made things tidy. * * * 

This is decidedly the longest spell of watching 
I've had and it's now "wearin' away" toward six 
o'clock while I sit at the kitchen table scribbling 
away to you. I shall soon be cooking some mush 
for the boys. One of them had a bad dream, but 
the sickest has slept peacefully ever since I rubbed 
ice along his spine. 



Livvy stopped in to-day in answer to my letter 
and says she will be happy to work for us this 
winter. I was as much taken with her frank 
honesty and wide-awake spirit as you were. It's 
a great relief to me to know that you will have 
someone to help you. 

Bunty and I have scrubbed and papered the en- 
tire hospital, and the beds are on the way from 
St. John's. The stoves are all in and all the other 
supplies have come. I ordered enough oatmeal, 
cornmeal, molasses, salt meat, potatoes, fish, but- 
ter, pork, etc., to start on without needing the 
New York boxes. If we are strapped for anything 
we can borrow from our storeroom, but I think 
there will be no need. The only thing we are very 
low on is sugar. Kemembering Bunty's fondness 
for molasses I've ordered forty gallons for the hos- 
pital! The last two days we have been on the 
Island. To-day was almost as warm as summer. 



70 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

One A. M. 

Don't think that my sleep is suffering from this 
night nursing. I went to bed last evening at six 
o'clock so that I would have a really long night 
before going on duty^ and as it is, I just sit here 
most of the time. Miss Gleason does all the real 
work during the day, so that all there is left for 
me to do is to try to feed them occasionally and 
look after them. To-night I plan to write lots 
of letters to go off on the Prospero as I don't 
know w hen the Clyde will be here. I may try to 
outline one of my winter Public Health talks, and 
then I have the Golden Treasury and Pickwick 
Papers to fall back on, so you see it doesn't look 
much like nursing. 

Fall fees are coming in rather slowly but we've 
had no regular mails since I posted the notices. 

I had two pitiful cases yesterday, — a woman 
and child. The woman was a chronic sufferer 
from sick headaches, having them two or three 
times a month. She kept her tea on the stove all 
the time, only emptying the pot when it was filled 
to the top with old leaves, drank two cups at each 
meal and one and a half at her " 'levener" — eleven 
o'clock lunch — and at four p. m. Everybody here 
has four meals, so that makes between fourteen 
and fifteen cups a day, — all black as lye. The lit- 
tle girl was small, pink and puny, and was said to 
have stomach trouble and not to grow. She drank 
tea and ate sweets at all hours of the day. I was 
reminded of the baby I saw at Robert's Arm last 



Work and Play 71 

summer whose mother told me "he throws every- 
thing; all he's kept down to-day is some jam and 
turnip !'' When the little girPs mother asked her 
to take off her clothes for examination, she looked 
up and quietly and pertly said she was too lazy 
to, so her mother did it for her. * * * 

Yesterday we had some cornbeef hash which 
was a real treat. You must have some too, when 
you come, — with apple sauce. Mrs. Brown feeds 
me well and the natives will tell you how well I 
look in spite of my night watches. We have four 
and a half cords more of dry wood, and Mr. D — 
will be employed to saw it. About half of it is 
for the hospital. The coal has not come yet, and 
I am "that keyed up" about the Prospero, anx- 
iously waiting for piano, Victrola, food and sup- 
plies, that it doesn't seem as if I could wait, 
though I'm only too well schooled in disappoint- 
ment in regard to freight to mind it much. The 
hospital has potatoes, beef, pork, flour and mo- 
lasses on hand, and I guess that will be enough. 

Mrs. W — has been doing some stitching of 
towels and nightgowns for the hospital, so that 
we can pay her in more clothes. Her husband has 
gained about eight pounds; he sleeps indoors 
now, but alone, and they have promised to take 
proper precautions with the children. He came 
with his fee yesterday, which I refused. Mr. D — 
has offered to pay me once or twice and I'll let 
him, I think, as long as he chops wood. Mrs. D — 



72 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

is making two or three dollars a week scrubbing 
the hospital. I'll wait for your advice. 



^ .♦ 



Before I finish my watch to-night I shall have 
been twenty-seven hours without sleep, but to- 
night I am swapping with Miss Gleason. She is 
sleeping the first half and I shall sleep way into 
the morning and get up about dinner time to- 
morrow. I am able to do this because there is a 
northeasterly blizzard going on which prevents 
all travel and all people from seeking me. It be- 
gan early yesterday morning. I went down to 
the house to do some odd jobs and came back to the 
hospital at dinner time with great difficulty 
through drifts up to my waist. The wind is still 
howling and I shall be forced to read some of 
Snowbound to-morrow. I think the snow is over 
now but the windows are so plastered w ith it and 
it's so dark that one can't tell. The typhoids are 
very quiet to-night, have been asleep practically 
all the time, only w^aking long enough for me to 
"hurge" them to take something to drink. I've 
read one hundred pages of Pickwick Papers and 
am having the time of my life. I think I shall 
finish them and Bleak House before you get 
back. * * * 

The storm will upset all the boats. The Clyde 
will not be here till Saturday or Sunday or Mon- 
day, and the Prospero bearing supplies nobody 




Mr. W.'s Outdoor Sleeping Porch 




Pilley's Island Hospital 



Work and Play 73 

knows when. Bunty is snow bound and I am 
w^ondering when he can get back. I suppose he 
will try to come on the Prospero. At any rate, 
no patients can get here before he does. I am 
glad to see the snow in a way, for if the Prospero 
has got our supplies and piano, it will be easier 
to get them up the hill on runners, for Mr. For- 
ward's vehicle would never handle a piano. 



Last night I told you I was going to sleep late, 
which I did in Bunty's bunk from two a. m. till 
nine a. m. and to-day I shall do the same. This 
morning everybody was out on snowshoes and 
there were some very large drifts. Mr. Shearing 
says it is as bad as they ever have it from one fall 
of snow. But our back yard is as clean as a whis- 
tle and there is very little snow in front. Mr. 
S — says the storm winds always blow it off our 
land so we shall not have much shoveling to do. 
The telegraph wires are down so we know nothing 
of the Prospero but expect her to-morrow. The 
typhoids are doing fairly well. 

The "harmy'' Lieutenant came to-day to get 
some dialogue books from which to get pieces for 
the children to speak on Christmas. It seems the 
Salvation Army have a Christmas tree and cele- 
bration every year at the Barracks. I was at 
the house all the morning, finishing up some cor- 



74 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

respondence, winter orders, etc. Took a bath and 
changed my clothes. * ♦ * 

I shall go to the next rehearsal of the Mystery 
Play and explain more carefully what the signifi- 
cance of it is, for the children didn't seem to grasp 
the situation at all, — speaking of the Angel's sing- 
ing and the Star as if they were quintals of fish 
and potatoes. Then I shall hear some of them 
separately in their parts so as to keep them from 
confirming bad habits until you get here. To- 
morrow is Thursday and the day after Clyde day, 
so I'll add to this to-morrow. I am making ar- 
rangements for some talks to the school children 
and for examination of all the pupils on Pilley's 
Island. Whether we shall be able to extend it to 
other places or not I don't know. I should like to 
include Fortune Harbour, Springdale and Little 
Bay Island. * * * 

Bunty got home this morning, having had an 
operation case, — confinement — in Little Bay Is- 
land. The weather is fine, clear and cold and 
frightfully windy, the wind driving right through 
the narrows. 

To-day we did our first operation, — tonsils re- 
moved. Mrs. Brown (acting as housekeeper) 
seems reasonably happy now. I think the fem- 
inine sassiety of Miss Gleason did the trick. Mrs. 
D — was here washing out the "terrified clothes" 
as she called the typhoid things. 

The Prospero is not in yet and the Clyde by 
report has left Lewisporte, but this may be a false 



Work and Play 75 

rumor. At any rate our mail will probably get to 
the States as quickly by the Clyde as by the Pros- 
pero so that I shall be able to let you know about 
the piano, etc. 

I am at my usual job. Bunty has gone again in 
the motorboat to see a magistrate case, probably 
more typhoids, I think. Our typhoids are so so, 
not any change for the better yet. I realize more 
than ever that the doctor is of very little use. It's 
the nurse who counts at this game. 



The Prospero came with all our freight, — seven 
pieces. 

SOME OF THE DOCTOR'S MAIL. 

TO THE DOCTOR PILLEYS ISLAND 
I have got A strained or renched Ankle Would 
you kindley send me something to rub it with I 
find the pain go up my leg bearer of this note will 
tell you what I told him how it was 

Chas 

Roberts Arm 

Note brought to doctor by son of Mr. Eli Fudge. 
Mr. Eli Fudge please tend on this my sun 

Woodford's Cove, 
June It, 1911. 

Dear Dr 

I am sending for you come at once if possible 
My Son has taken very badly of with fitts last 



76 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

evening he taken with a roaring pain in the pit of 
the Stomac and goes to the right Side and after 
that pain goes away he take a wonderful fitt 
which take 5 or 6 men to hold him. 
Come at once & do your best and oblige 

Mr James 

Green Bay, 
November 27, 1911. 
Dk H Greely : — 
Dear Sir. 
I am sending the cabbage you ordered for and 
30 lbs mounton. at 12c per lb. 

Yours truly 

E.M 

Lush's Bight, 
August 27, 1911. 

Dr Greely : — 
Dear Sir : — 
Will you kindly come with bearer or someone 
else to take you back. The Minister has brain 
fever or something just as bad anyway he's off 
his head taken suddenly last night. Maybe the 
sun which has affected him Will you kindly come 
right away, or as soon as possible 

Yours truly 

S. P 

Leading Tickles, 
July 13, 1911. 
Dear Dr Your of The 10 the Tube in wich you 
sent me wos No use to me Like that I have sending 



Work and Play 77 

it as I receved it it is No good to me Like that 
I have Not sending you any mony to pay for the 
tube for th tube wos in 3 pices and No glass My 
stomick is no Better the baby is well 

So I remain Yours Truly Eli B 

Leading Tickles 
Dr. Greeley 
PiLLis Island 

Leading Tickles, 
December 29, 1911. 

Doctor Greeley 

Dear Sir 
I am ritting to let you know all my meddison is 
gone and I dont feel no better but a little worse 
so I like to hav sone more if you pleas. Some 
thing what ever you think is best your self to send 
me and a box of itment for the old lady for the 
exeminter. Your truly 

Mr. William W 



IV. 



WE PREPARE FOR WINTER 

En route to Newfoundland, 
Truro, Nova Scotia, 
December, 1911. 

SUPPER time interrupted me in my writing 
last evening, and afterwards Amelia and I 
both slept in our chairs for two hours, mak- 
ing the last lap to St. John, N. S., seem delight- 
fully short. There are so many things to tell you 
that I hardly know how far back to begin, but I 
know you want to know more about my traveling 
companion, so I had better devote a paragraph to 
her at once. She is so very nice and so very pleas- 
ant that I really can't feel fortunate enough in 
having her. I feel sure that if I suggested riding 
in the baggage car for variety, she would agree 
with polite enthusiasm. She and her mother 
came in from Milton in their car on Wednesday 
and took all my surplus Mission things to pack in 
A.'s extra trunk, and begged me to telephone them 
if I found anything else which I had no room for. 
At such a time no help could have been more won- 
derfully welcome. When E — and I got back 
from Simsbury Sunday night w^e found Mr. Web- 
ster at our house, come to tell me that Amelia is 

78 



We Prepare for Winter 79 

to stay at Pilley's until the stress of work there is 
over. They had had a letter from "Harrison" 
telling of how he and Hugh were taking turns at 
night shifts watching two typhoid patients, and 
parental solicitude could stand no more, so Mr. 
W — had gone at once to Cambridge to interview 
Dr. Grenfell and get his consent to our having an 
extra nurse. I am certainly very glad, for it 
didn't seem right at all to me to have Hugh and 
Bunty help with the nursing when they have so 
much else to do, and I think they will see the wis- 
dom of this plan. 

Amelia has just remarked that it is a quarter 
of eight, so we must go out and do a little shop- 
ping before our train goes at nine-forty and I will 
continue my narrative later. We slept soundly 
last night and had an excellent breakfast in the 
station dining room this morning. I wish you 
could all have seen the darling, little, snowy vil- 
lages in Maine and New Brunswick yesterday, 
with lights shining in the windows of the white 
houses, and low sleighs drawn by nice old country 
horses traveling over the roads. This trip is even 
more interesting in winter than in summer, and 
the cold, snowy air is delicious after being in a 
stuffy car. 

Roclcport, Newfoundland, 
December 9, 1911. 

Look w^U at the date, and realize in your fond 
minds all that it connotes when joined with the 
name of the Kockport Hotel. To be brief, — 



80 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

instead of having reached home and husband yes- 
terday afternoon after waiting here since early 
Thursday morning, we are still at noon on Satur- 
day in the elegant precincts of this modern palace 
of comfort. The Clyde has been lying serenly at 
the wharf since "Chuesday'' we are told, not mak- 
ing the slightest effort to load the thirteen cars of 
freight destined for it, and giving as excuse the 
plea that they are "hindered" by the coaling ves- 
sel which is unloading here and has employed all 
the available men. Of course they could get more 
if they wanted to and they have enraged even the 
stolid Newfoundlanders by constantly promising 
to leave and then not even trying to. Fortunately 
our train was about eight hours late, so we didn't 
get here until after six Thursday morning which 
has made our wait that much shorter. The pro- 
prietor of the hotel is away, and his wife with a 
new baby and three other children is overwhelmed 
by the work left for her to do, so as M. L. C. would 
say, we simply wallow in filth and live like pigs 
in a sty. The hotel is so crowded that at first we 
were put into a room with another girl, but by 
night someone left so she was given a room by 
herself. Pilley's Island is frozen in, I am told, 
so the motor boat can't be used, but Hugh tele- 
graphed me Thursday that he would meet me if 
the Prospero came back from the north in time, 
supposing that we should leave yesterday. I tele- 
graphed him of the probable delay, and said we 
could probably connect with each other at Ex- 



We Prepare for Winter 81 

ploits — two hours from here — as the Prospero 
doesn't come to Eockport. But the Prospero 
was reported a day and a half late "down to Bale 
Verte.'' So I don't know where poor Hugh is or 
when I shall see him. Every time the door opens 
I find myself jumping up involuntarily, and yes- 
terday when I was told that a motor boat had just 
come in from Exploits I grew thoroughly excited, 
for I hadn't heard then how late the Prospero 
was. We got into our coats with all speed and 
hurried out, only to find that it had come to meet 
Mr. M — , the storekeeper from Exploits, who was 
coming from St. John's on the noon train. He is 
a great friend of the doctor's and has invited us 
several times to visit them, so I lay in wait for 
him, for his house is remarkably modern, with a 
vacuum cleaner and plenty of good milk ! When he 
came he was more than cordial and made every ef- 
fort to make room for us on his boat, but he had 
promised to carry forty bags of southern mail to 
Exploits for the Prospero, so there simply wasn't a 
cubic inch of space left. There was a northeast 
wind and snow storm too so he said the trip would 
be a very rough one in a small boat, and as Amelia 
and I both had colds we realized that it would 
not be wise to get wet through and stay so for 
over three hours. Mr. M — said if he had known 
I was here he would not have agreed to carry the 
mails, and invited us to stay with them during 
the ^Ye hours that the Clyde will be unloading 
freight at Exploits, and said if the doctor came 



82 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

on the Prospero he would try to get him over 
here on his motor boat, so altogether he was very 
nice. I haven't heard from Hugh to-day, and I 
suppose he got off at Fortune, where he has pa- 
tients, expecting that the Clyde would call there 
last night, and now can't get to Exploits, as there 
is no motor boat at Fortune. Mine is a long tale, 
said the mouse, but if I try to tell you anything 
of our dilemma I have to tell you everything, in 
order to make it intelligible. The only thing I 
really mind is not meeting Hugh, though it's not 
wholly entertaining to be wearing the filthy flan- 
nel waist in which I came from Boston, to have 
one gray bath towel and ice cold water — this 
morning frozen — with which to achieve cleanli- 
ness, to be given someone's else unspeakable nap- 
kin at every meal, to have the dirt on the table- 
cloth only equalled by that on the silver, and to 
eat boiled or fried salt meat and fish at every 
meal, surrounded by men who guzzle their food 
worse than the pigs at Faville Farm. Our bed- 
room wasn't swept or even dusted until yester- 
day afternoon and was really filthy, and so cold 
that my feet were chilled through three pairs of 
woolen stockings and my heavy brown shoes. For- 
tunately A — and I are truly able to laugh at 
everything realizing that "haec olim meminisse 
juvabit." I feel so wonderfully fortunate not to 
be alone that I couldn't complain, and I have told 
you only the unpleasant features of the place so 
far. I will only add that we sleep together for 



We Prepare for Winter 83 

warmth, with one woolen afghan which A — 
brought, under us, and the other one and our fur 
coats over us, so I don't think I should undress 
at all if I were alone. 

Now for our recreations ! There is a beautiful 
walk through some evergreen woods not far from 
here, and we have gone there twice with the great- 
est pleasure. Last evening we went at twilight, 
and I wish I could describe to you the effect of 
the dark, dark hemlocks against the steel gray 
of the harbour and white stretches of snow. It 
snowed for only a few hours, and to-day is bright 
and cloudless though very cold. The latest re- 
port from the Clyde is that she may leave between 
six and eight, which would bring us to Pilley's 
Island to-morrow morning as there is so much 
freight to unload. Only Emily can fully appreci- 
ate what a night on the dear old Clyde would be ! 
I think I shall try to reach Hugh by telegraph as 
it would be something of a comfort to know where 
he is. A — and I have slept late both mornings, 
and have had a breakfast in our room of Steero 
Soup tablets — we get hot water from the kitchen 
and use some to temper our washing — educators 
and gingerbread from her lunch basket, and ap- 
ples which I got at the store. We have two 
chairs, so we use one for a table, and then one of 
us sits on the bed hastily made for the occasion, 
and we drink our soup and laugh and have a very 
cozy time. A — , as you have probably guessed, is 
perfectly fine in the truest sense of the word and 



84: Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

an absolutely ideal traveling companion. She has 
had a wretched cold — mine is not nearly so bad — 
and has to take cough drops all through the night, 
and the first night the baby next to our room had 
croup and coughed incessantly, and cried in be- 
tween, but she insists that it's all "awfully good 
fun.'- She belongs to a most interesting family 
of "wealth and position" as the novels say, but 
every member has chosen a life of hard work and 
simple living. They are variously engaged in 
different branches of government, education, and 
medicine, and A — herself has just been for two 
years at a Nurses' Training School. She is a 
most interesting girl to talk to with the highest 
ideals and much good sense, and we have spent 
hours in conversation on all sorts of subjects. 
Yesterday afternoon she read aloud to me from a 
pleasant little book called "Basset," while I cro- 
cheted on a Christmas necktie for Hugh, — a beau- 
tiful purple — and then we played the talking ma- 
chine — not too awful to be unendurable though it 
has suffered greatly from over-used needles, — 
until twilight when we went for another walk. 
After supper I read aloud for a while, wrapped in 
blankets and a steamer rug in our room, and we 
went to bed at eight. This morning we didn't 
get up until ten, had breakfast and repacked our 
bags until dinner time, and since then have been 
writing letters. We are now going for a walk 
while the sun is bright, for it sets about four. 



We Prepare for Winter 85 

We have now had our walk, through the same 
"beautiful woods, have ascertained that the Clyde 
will not leave here before midnight at the earliest 
and so have engaged a state room and had a little 
boy carry our baggage on board. After this I 
telegraphed Hugh to ask "where are you?" and 
tell him the probable time of our leaving, for it's 
horrid not to have any idea where he is, and I 
have now learned that the Prospero reached Ex- 
ploits about nine this morning. Then I rested 
until supper time while A — read aloud. We have 
just been to the telegraph office to see whether 
Hugh had been at any of the possible addresses 
I gave, but the operator can't let me know for 
about half an hour. I had a clean napkin at sup- 
per and there were baked apples, of which I ate 
two with great enjoyment. I am feeling perfectly 
well, by the way. 

Tell Aunt May, if she is interested enough to be 
reading this scrawl, that I never had more fun 
than I did buying the fruit for Hugh : I got eight 
grape fruits, six oranges, preserved ginger, apri- 
cot wafers, and two pounds of chocolates and 
candied fruit and had them carefully packed in a 
big basket which I am carrying with my hand 
baggage for safety. These are all his special 
favorites, and I love to think how much they will 
add to our Christmas and other dinners, for they 
will all keep indefinitely. I also bought him a 
splendid pair of huge coon skin gloves and a pair 
of muskrat dittos for myself with part of the 



86 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

money Uncle George gave me. I am already rea- 
liziiig how useful mine are, as I wear them every 
time I go out, and they look very smart with my 
coat. 

We have been again to the telegraph office but 
no answer has been received to my message. If 
you don't hear from me again this week, realize 
that it is because the Clyde is late, and don't wor- 
ry about us, for I should telegraph if anything 
were the matter. Hugh is doubtless at Fortune 
or Exploits and sees no use in telegraphing me 
again that he will meet me since he has done so 
once. It is just that I should like to know some- 
thing definite after all our uncertainty, but there 
is really no sense in it. This is such an unusual 
experience that it is almost interesting, and think 
how our children will enjoy hearing about it some 
day ! !Need I add that I think often of you all? 

December SS, 1911. 

Behold a busy housekeeper sitting down im- 
mediately after breakfast to commune with you 
on paper, in spite of the fact that her Christmas 
pies and cakes are not yet made, and that there 
are about forty Christmas cards waiting to be 
created from photographs and cardboard and a 
bottle of ink. But we heard last night that the 
Prospero will perhaps get here to-day or to-mor- 
row from "down north on the Labrador'' so I 
naturally drop everything else in order to get my 
letter written before the whistle blows. 




Icebergs That We Saw in Summer 




Cutting a Channel Through the Ice for the Last Schooner 
of the Season to Dock 



We Prepare for Winter 87 

Pilley's Island has been anything but a rest 
cure since I got back, for the house, though won- 
derfully in order considering what it has been 
through, still needed a great deal of cleaning and 
arranging, and, as all the supplies had had to be 
moved inside, to the heated rooms, we had to 
evolve a new system of shelves, boxes and barrels. 
What women with "incapable husbands" do at 
such times I hate to imagine, for Hugh takes all 
the burden from my shoulders and plans and ar- 
ranges and moves and hammers from morning 
until night. I must hastily give you a list of the 
changes I found on my arrival. In the first place 
our beautiful mahogany piano had arrived from 
Boston and was standing where the table used to 
in the front room, and the table was in the corner 
by the window with the magnificent talking ma- 
chine on it. (I wish you could have seen our 
memorable first dinner when w^e ate some of xlunt 
May's delicious grape fruit to the accompaniment 
of Caruso's singing.) The kitchen was supplied 
with several new shelves, boxes and cupboards, 
and the storeroom next to it was stocked from 
floor to ceiling with our winter provisions neatly 
arranged. A screen door covered with building 
paper shut off the icy upper hall from the even 
icier stairway, and in our room was the most ador- 
able little stove adorned with a shining tin tea- 
kettle which I value only second to my health. 

We are keeping comfortably warm in our liv- 
ing and sleeping rooms, though it is certainly an 



88 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

amusing experience to me to have everything 
freeze in a room the moment you let the fire go 
out. I feel like Mrs. Jenkins' daughter Charlotte 
when I find myself "laughing immoderately" at 
the damage wrought by ice among our bottled 
supplies and dishes. (I hasten to add for the 
benefit of the more prudent of my relations, that 
the damage is never great, and can be easily re- 
paired in most cases.) Our pitcher is frozen to 
the bowl and the soap to the dish, the water to 
the hot water bag, the medicine to the bottles, the 
water to the kettle even, after we have left the bed 
room fire go out for two hours, and when Livvy 
and I empty the bath tub in my room after break- 
fast, lo ! it is covered with a hard sheet of mail ! 
I told Hugh that it was sweet to see the softening 
influence of woman's presence, for since my re- 
turn the temperature in the dining room has 
risen from eighteen degrees to forty-four degrees 
at breakfast time. 

Here Hugh returned from his calls so we got 
to work on the cards, pasting 4:hem with very 
inadequate flour paste onto building paper which 
H — had cut into pieces of the right size. I 
brought up two dozen photographic postcards 
which he printed but there were a lot of good pic- 
tures already done, so we wanted to use them. 
We have made about seventy and I can assure 
you it means devotion to our friends, for our 
materials were anything but easy to work with, 
as one would judge by results in most cases. 



We Prepare for Winter 89 

However, I couldn't bear to let Christmas go by 
without observing it in some way, and our kind 
friends will doubtless overlook our shortcomings. 
Last night w^e had a "joke present" Christmas 
tree at the hospital for the staff. Bunty and the 
nurses had gathered Christmas greens and cut a 
"nice, symmetrical little tree," as mother would 
say, in the afternoon, and when we went up it 
was standing in state on the kitchen table. None 
of our things have come yet, — not even Amelia's 
and my trunks — so w^e had to evolve decorations 
out of the furnishings of the pantry. We cut 
up the red paper wrappings of cakes of soap into 
strips and hung them on the branches, and took 
off the bright tin foil covers to pickle bottles. 
The round top to a tin can Bunty bent into a kind 
of star shape for the topmost branch, and, as a 
final touch Hugh tied on long pieces of macaroni 
which were most effective. The tea strainer — 
the kind that hangs down from the spout — looked 
quite like a real ornament, and, altogether the 
tree presented an imposing appearance after our 
packages were fastened on. We began the cele- 
bration by having "The Mght Before Christmas" 
real aloud and then Bunty distributed the pres- 
ents with very entertaining remarks and long 
speeches. Everything was of course immensely 
appreciated and we had much fun opening the 
packages and reading the rhymes. Then we had 
refreshments, consisting of a freezer"of chocolate 
ice cream with nuts in it which we had taken up, 



90 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

and a chocolate layer cake made with egg powder 
by Miss Gleason, one of the nurses. We can get 
neither eggs nor milk this winter, so I am learn- 
ing pioneer methods in cooking. We had 
planned to pull candy for the Christmas stock- 
ings of the patients, but the molasses wouldn't 
come to the proper consistency, so w^e left it to 
cook over night and departed at the good Pilley's 
Island hour of half -past nine, much elated over 
our first party. 

This morning we wrote our cards until church 
time, when we went up the hill to the meeting 
house and heard a sermon on what text do you 
suppose? It being Christmas Sunday we had 
dared hope for something a little less dismal than 
usual, and I heard Hugh murmur "God help 
us,'' when the minister announced that he would 
preach from a text found in the description of 
the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, — "The 
smoke of their torment." We were informed 
during the discourse that "the lost souls bite 
their burning tongues without relief," and that 
though "New Theology" had done something 
toward undermining our faith, still there is noth- 
ing in the "Holy Scriptures" which can give us 
the slightest ray of hope for the souls of the 
damned. I could hardly believe that I was 
actually hearing such a sermon in the Twentieth 
Century, and the combination of such a talk with 
the unrelieved bareness of the church on Christ- 
mas Sunday went to my heart. Think what these 



We Prepare for Winter 91 

people are missing ! There is to be another serv- 
ice to-morrow morning, for which I lent Mrs. S. 
some songs and H — and I will sing with the 
choir, "Silent Night" and "Oh Come All Ye 
Faithful.'' This evening they are to sing "Oh 
Dark Was the Night," which we sang once in the 
"Park Place" choir. I asked the minister if he 
wouldn't like to have the pulpit decorated with 
evergreen boughs and he seemed greatly pleased 
with the idea, so Amelia, Hugh and I will go up 
early to-morrow morning and do it. This re- 
minds me of the clever device of little Netta 
Eoberts for getting holly for our Mystery Play. 
Jack was supposed to bring some in and I had 
expected Emily's box would get here before the 
play, but the Clyde isn't expected to leave Lewis- 
port until next Tuesday at the earliest, so Netta, 
without any suggestion from me, tied tiny scraps 
of red flannel onto hemlock boughs and you 
would never realize that they weren't berries. 
The play is going so well that I can't believe my 
eyes and ears. We have rehearsed nearly every 
day since I got home and Mrs. S — has taught 
them the songs separately and they have all 
worked hard. The little Robertses are so cun- 
ning that I want to embrace them at every re- 
hearsal. "The bright eyes of the children," I 
keep saying to myself when I see all these dear 
little i>ersons going through their parts or sing- 
ing the songs with the most absorbed interest and 
shining Joy. I wish I could write you more in 



92 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

detail about it all, but after it's over I shall de- 
scribe it fully. The parents tell me their chil- 
dren are "right cracked" over the play and can 
talk of nothing else. We have had three re- 
hearsals in "Horangemen's 'All" and Mr. For- 
ward and Mr. Shearing took up the latter's organ 
for us; Mrs. Stuckless plays for us and never 
forgets her cues. She is really quite a wonder. 

Before I forget it I must say that one box of 
dolls has come from Aunt M's girls at Milwau- 
kee-Downer, and that I am delighted with it. 
We shan't have our big tree until "Twelfth 
Night" at the earliest, for the trunk of toys 
missed the last Prospero, so the other box from 
the girls will surely get here in time. I will write 
them our thanks after we have had the tree. We 
have been having a very informal service at the 
hospital this afternoon, — we are going to hold 
one there every Sunday, — and now we are going 
up to fill the patients' stockings. 

It is such fun to be able to give some of the 
things from the mission boxes to people who 
wouldn't have anything else. There is much, 
much more that I want to write, but it's time to 
take the letters to the post office in case the Pros- 
pero comes early to-night. 

We have had one mail since I got here, and 
as it brought only two Christmas letters and a 
book for H — , my pile of "not to be opened" 
packages in the front hall closet (I had to pre- 
serve the tradition) is really not imposing. But 



We Prepare for Winter 93 

we shall have our dinner to-morrow with two 
young roosters for turkey and real cranberry 
sauce from our storeroom, and a wonderful plum 
pudding which I made last week and steamed six 
hours, and Aunt May's much enjoyed fruit and 
candies. In the evening we are invited to the 
"Harmy" tree, in the afternoon the staff will 
come down to hear the Talking Machine and I 
shall take the children up to the hospital to sing 
their carols. Tuesday night we give the play; 
Wednesday, we shall have Christmas — if the 
Clyde comes — and Thursday, I am to have the 
children all here to supper and read them Dick- 
ens' Christmas Carol, so we shall have a long 
series of celebrations. I am thoroughly enjoying 
seeing the way in which these people observe 
Christmas and will write you all about it some 
time. For the present I can only take time to 
copy the poem which I wrote for you with my 
heart's love. 

Filley's Island, 
Christmas, 1911, 

There is no East, there is no West, 

There is no North or South, 
I still am with you all, and feel 

Your kisses on my mouth. 

The same sun rises on us all, 

The same moon shines on us at night, 

My spirit hears you when you call, 
My love for each of you is sight. 



94: Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission , 

The laws of Time I laugh to scorn. 
The gods of Space I drive away, 

I clasp your hands in mine this mom 
And with you keep our Christmas Day. 

December 29, 1911. 

Indeed we did have a merry Christmas, and 
indeed you helped to make it so ! The Clyde came 
about eleven o'clock the night we gave the Mys- 
tery Play, and I had the satisfaction of seeing 
your packages from the outside, and knowing 
that my trunk was actually on the wharf before 
I went to sleep. It was really better that the 
boat was late, for Christmas Day was entirely 
taken up with decorating the church, singing in 
the choir, eating our elaborate and matchless din- 
ner, taking the children to the hospital to sing 
their carols for the patients, serving ice cream to 
the staff at our house, and going to the very long 
entertainment which the "Harmy" (Salvation 
Army) gave. Hugh and Bunty were both called 
upon to address the audience, and were greeted 
with such tumultuous applause that I felt encour- 
aged for the success of the hospital and its work. 
The next morning we swept and garnished the 
house, which looks really beautiful with its 
branches of hemlock and little tree, and in the 
afternoon we held our dress rehearsal at "Hor- 
angemen^s 'AlP' and arranged the stage for the 
evening. It looked remarkably attractive in the 
first act, which is in the cottage of a peasant, on 



We Prepare for Winter 95 

the road to Bethlehem, you may remember, and 
the children were most attractive and cunning 
in their very simple costumes. Mrs. S — is so 
small that her clothes did for all the women's 
parts, and "Mary" looked perfectly appropriate 
in my light blue silk dress over my old dotted 
muslin, with Mrs. S's blue veil over her head and 
black cape for a wrap. It is a great temptation 
to describe everything in detail, but it is too late 
to write much, and we have just heard that the 
Clyde is going to cut out two places of call on her 
return trip, and so will probably reach here to- 
morrow morning instead of Monday, as we had 
expected. 

This letter accordingly will have to be merely 
an outline which I will expand later : The play 
was a great success, and some people were so im- 
pressed by it that I was really surprised, for it is 
very different from anything they had ever seen 
before. Several people went to both perform- 
ances, — we repeated it Wednesday night, — and 
said it was the most wonderful thing they had 
ever seen. A few persons — notably George S's 
father, who is a Catholic — were shocked to see 
anything so sacred given in a secular hall, and 
the wretched man actually refused to let George 
play the second night and insulted Hugh abomin- 
ably when he remonstrated. Fortunately, George 
was only the "third shepherd," so I had a boy 
Btand in his place and I shouted his part from 



96 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

behind the scenes. The ^^Hensign" wants a copy 
of -the play, which he considers *^grand." 

To return to Christmas — Hugh and I sat in 
front of our little, lighted tree, adorned with tin 
pill boxes, each holding a chocolate peppermint 
as a surprise for me, and opened our great pile of 
packages and our twenty-nine letters and cards, 
and thought of you all with great gratitude. 

January Jf, 1912. 

Again I am looking out at a beautiful white 
snow storm, and wishing that all the winter en- 
thusiasts were here to enjoy it with me. The 
weather here is perfectly delightful, uniformly 
cold and crisp, but with many hours of bright 
sunshine to warm the heart — if not the hands. 
The holiday spirit is still with us, for all the 
children are "fair tormentin' " their mothers to 
give the Doctor's wife their names for the much- 
anticipated tree Saturday night, and the mum- 
mers are out "janneyin' " every evening. I don't 
know where they get that word, but it's what 
they all ask us when they come to the door at 
night; "Any janneyin' allowed here this eve- 
nin'?" 

Some of them brought an accordion the other 
night and danced a reel to its playing with such 
spirit that we thoroughly enjoyed watching it. 
Their enjoyment lent grace to their movements 
and their rocking laughter over the Doctor's 



We Prepare for Winter 97 

witticisms was good to behold. They were Irish 
Catholics from "een around the pond" and ap- 
parently knew how to make the desert blossom 
much better than our orthodox Methodist breth- 
ren, whose children have no accomplishments as 
mummers, but merely come in dressed in fan- 
tastic costumes and talk in artificial voices 
through the extremely dirty rags which conceal 
their faces. Hugh and I insist on some sort of 
performance before we gratify their request of 
"We want some Christmas" many times repeated 
in a high begging voice. The janneyin' is kept 
up until Twelfth Night, which is quite long 
enough, we feel, after being called to the door 
three or four times every evening. Mrs. Stuck- 
less and Winnie G., the postmistress, dressed up 
and came here one night when we were having a 
late supper, and Hugh not knowing them in their 
disguise, dismissed them with a summary "Not 
to-night, too late," and banged the door in their 
faces, much to their amusement. 

I am really as busy just now as though I were 
in the city, for people keep coming here to put 
down their children's names for the tree, and 
presents and bags of candy for two hundred 
and fifty children must be ready before Saturday 
night. 

This letter is going by the "Overland Mail" 
"into the Badger's" to connect with the train, so 
you can think of it as having had a glorious ride 
of some sixty miles behind a team of six or eight 



98 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

dogs. The Prospero is expected to-night, and I 
greatly fear the barrel of books will not be on it, 
as we have had no mention of it in our bills of 
lading. I am very sorry, for this is probably our 
last boat until spring, and the scouts were going 
to have a public library for all the bay. I must 
take this down to the post office, only adding our 
devoted love to you all. The thought of you is 
gladness to the heart. 

Letters from S. and E. dated December twenty- 
second came yesterday by the dog team, and I am 
hoping greedily for more on the Prospero to-day. 
We are quite in a whirl over having two mails so 
near together. There is far more I want to say 
than I have written, but next week ought to be 
freer, though my new maid is very stupid, I re- 
gret to say, and I am planning to start three 
cooking classes for the preventive consumption 
work. Blessed is that man who has found his 
work, for it maketh the waste places to sing! 



i 



a: JANUARY CHRISTMAS 

Friday, January 5, 1912. 

CLEARER this morning. Not much 
snow fell, but drifts piled high in places. 
The Prospero stopped here on its way 
northward. A Miss Copping, from near Boston, 
was on board, bound for St. Anthony, where she 
is to teach school this winter. She came to our 
house for tea, and helped me gild nuts for the 
Christmas tree. Netta and Jack Roberts, Stella 
Garland and Livvy, strung popcorn, and we sat 
in the midst of boxes and piles of presents. 

In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Stuckless, Miss 
Copping, a Mr. Follen, from the University of 
Pennsylvania, also bound for St. Anthony ; Cap- 
tain Kean and I went up to the Hospital to hear 
the talking machine and look at the building in 
its holiday adornment. Amelia Forbes made tea 
for us and we drank it in the kitchen with cookies 
and crackers. The Captain recited "The One 
Hoss Shay" and "Said the Wine Glass to the 
Water Glass," and I contributed "A Youth and 
Maid One Winter's Night." Then we went down 
to the boat where the poor Doctor had been un- 

99 



100 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

loading one hundred and sixty bags of coal all 
the'evening with some assistance. 



Saturday, January 6. 

In the afternoon, Netta, Jack and Mary Kob- 
erts came over and helped us pop and string corn 
for the Christmas tree. All our time is devoted 
to choosing and tying up presents for over two 
hundred and fifty children and fifty grown peo- 
ple. Mrs. Webster has sent fifteen pounds of 
candy, tarletan and worsted for bags, some pres- 
ents and a beautiful big box of ornaments for the 
tree. The other presents have been contributed 
by the Park Place Sunday school class, the Mil- 
waukee-Downer Seminary, the Social Service 
Club, our family and various Boston people. 
Every day children come to give in their names 
for the tree, or their mothers tell us they have 
^^been tormented by the children" ever since the 
play to give the Doctor their names. ^'Not one 
thing Ma'am,'' most of them reply, when I ask 
them what they have had for Christmas. 

Monday, January 8. 

About three o'clock a man came for me to go 
to Triton. It was then blowing hard and drift- 
ing. We crossed to Pilley's Tickle on snowshoes, 
and then to Head's Harbour in boat. Dusk was 
just coming on; out through the Tickle the 
"slob" ice could be seen, and the eastern horizon 



A January Christmas 101 

was lit up by the reflected light from the snow 
and ice drifting from the north. The walking 
was good on shoes and the winding path over 
frozen ponds and through snow-covered groves of 
spruce, was beautiful. 

At Card's Harbour, near the shore where the 
tide had come up and met the snow line, green, 
glittering, phosphorescent points of light were 
seen in the snow. It was now quite dark, and 
the moon was rising through the thin clouds and 
snow. We started back from Triton about eight 
o'clock, with the wind at our backs. On reaching 
Head's Harbour, the Tickle was full of huge 
blocks of ice, packed in solid with the drifting 
snow, but not high enough to walk on. A crowd 
of men and myself launched a boat on the ice, 
pushed it into the slob, jumped out on another 
cake, over which we dragged the boat, and so 
poling along between the cakes of ice and drag- 
ging the boat over them, we crossed the Tickle. I 
just dragged myself home after my first twelve 
miles on snowshoes, — almost the first in my life. 

Wednesday, January 10. 

Snowing again and very cold. The second 
overland mail came to-day. Bunty came behind 
it after a four days' trip to King's Point to see 
a typhoid case. 

The mail brought us a thermometer. Ten de- 
grees below. Seven dogs drew the komatik sled 
which brought the mail. 



102 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Saturday, January IS. 

Slept late after the excitement. Bunty got 
back from Ward's Harbour last night, but was 
too tired to go to the tree. 

Mrs. Shearing and Mrs. Wells called in the 
afternoon, and we had tea. 

January H, 1912. 

Half-past four of a fine winter's afternoon, 
with the light from the setting sun lying rosily 
pink over the snow-covered harbour and hills. The 
children have just passed by on the road below 
resplendent in the new caps and bonnets that 
Santa Claus gave them last Friday night, and 
the time seems to have at last come for telling all 
of you who helped create that Santa Claus, 
what a Christmas you have given us at Pilley's 
Island. 

In the first place, I wonder if you have any 
idea how common a thing it is up here for a child 
to get *^Not a thing, ma'am" for Christmas ; and 
the more fortunate ones rarely are given any- 
thing more romantic than a pair of mittens or 
"braces." So I need not describe the radiance in 
their faces when they saw their first doll or real 
toy, and realized that these treasures were their 
very own. One family of little children, whose 
father is a consumptive, were so excited by the 
idea of Christmas that they hung up their stock- 
ings two nights ahead of time, but their poor 



A January Christmas 103 

mother had almost nothing to put in them, since 
her husband has not been able to work all sum- 
mer. "Santa Claus didn't come to our house 
this year," the little six-year-old Dot told her 
aunt, who repeated it to me. "He went to the 
hospital, 'cause Martha had presents who was 
sick there, but mamma had to put the things in 
our stockings, and all I had was five cents from 
Aunt Lou and a piece of cake. The other chil- 
dren fared better, for they each had a reel of 
brilliant" (a skein of bright cotton). You can 
imagine how I felt when I heard this, and 
thought of the children at home who had more 
presents than they could look at in a morning, for 
these little children are as sweet and cunning as 
any I have ever seen, and have been carrying 
huge logs of wood up the long hill from the wharf 
to their house to help their mother since their 
father had to give up. 

Fortunately the two older girls took part 
in the Christmas play, so they had been given 
presents from the Milwaukee-Downer box at our 
Christmas tree party, but the three younger 
children hadn't known one genuine Christmas 
thrill after all their anticipations. So their aunt 
arranged to have them hang their stockings up 
at her house the next Friday evening, and told 
them that Santa Claus was coming back to Pil- 
ley's Island from Shoe Cove, where he had gone 
to fill hi^ pack again. They were wild with ex- 
citement, and brought their stockings over early 



104 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

to be hung in the sitting room. The long-de- 
layed "Prospero'' had finally come, so I was able 
to contribute to each one a little package of 
silver-coated chocolates, a paper napkin filled 
with candies and animal crackers, a paper doll 
and its wardrobe for each little girl, and a pic- 
ture book for three-year-old Max. Their aunt 
put a bright red apple in each toe, a little roll of 
baby ribbon, some nuts and candies, and a 
diminutive china doll for Lou and Dot and a tiny 
horse and cart for Max. The next morning I went 
over to watch them open their stockings, and how 
I wish you could all have had that privilege! 
The children were too awed at first to take them 
down, they looked so wonderfully bulging with 
mysteries, but we assured them they were for 
them, and they at last shyly reached up for them 
and began drawing out the various objects with 
careful hands. Everything was greeted with a 
rapturous "Oh !'^ and they laughed together over 
each animal cracker, which was immediately 
held up for inspection, and were spellbound by 
the sight of so many "sweets" all for them. The 
little dolls were hailed with joy, and when we put 
Max's cart on the floor and gave it a push so 
that it actually moved at least three inches be- 
fore it stuck in the rug, our excitement and de- 
light knew no bounds. I was glad to hold the 
baby in my lap and hide my face in her neck 
several times, for I felt that tears had no part in 
such an occasion, but it was unspeakably pa- 



A January Christmas 105 

thetic to think how little was needed to bring 
about a visit from Santa Claus, and how nearly 
they had missed it. 

"Well, I've got something now/' breathed little 
five-year-old Dot with an expression of perfect 
contentment, while she looked first at her apple, 
then at the tiny doll, and then at the silver- 
wrapped chocolates. I rejoiced more than ever 
to think of the big tree which we were to have 
for all the children on the island and I have de- 
scribed this experience to show you that all that 
you did w^as worth w^hile. 

The next day was New Years, and in spite of 
a hard snow storm, between one hundred and 
fifty and two hundred people came to the "free 
tea" at the hospital between three and six. The 
wards were decorated with evergreen boughs, a 
tea table was set in each, presided over by a 
Pilley's Island lady, who sweetened the cups 
with sugar or molasses to suit the taste of the 
drinker. Livvy and May Barnes passed cookies, 
cheese, and sweet biscuit, and the guests all bal- 
anced two of each variety of refreshment on their 
knee while they drank their tea, which was pro- 
nounced "grand," in spite of the fact that the 
iron in the wash boiler had turned it to the color 
of ink. Four of our neighbours had contributed 
cookies, so that with what the Doctor bought at 
Mr. Shearing's store, the tables presented an 
appearance of rich prodigality. The talking ma- 
chine furnished most welcome entertainment, the 



106 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

doctors were radiant in white uniforms, the 
nurses, the soul of cordiality, and judging from 
the length of time the guests stayed, their enjoy- 
ment knew no bounds. 

The next day Mrs. Stuckless and I began to 
devote all our energies to preparations for the 
Christmas tree, names for which were coming in 
in increasing numbers every day. The list finally 
grew to about two hundred and fifty, and we in- 
vited fifty grown people, since the calendars and 
cards that were given us would make excellent 
presents for them. We had planned the celebra- 
tion for the night of January sixth — "Old Christ- 
mas'^ — but so hard a blizzard raged all day that 
we knew the children from Bumblebee Bight, 
Little Harbour and the other more distant settle- 
ments would not be able to come, so we postponed 
it until the following Friday. It was really a 
fortunate thing in the end, for more names kept 
coming in, and we found an immense amount of 
work to do each day. Mrs. S — took dinner here 
on Tuesday and Wednesday so as to be able to 
spend the entire day, and Hugh and Mr. S — 
helped us in their spare moments. 

We cut out two hundred and fifty candy bags 
in the shape of little socks from tarletan Mrs. 
Webster sent in her most generous box, stitched 
them up on the machine, filled them with candy 
and tied them with bows of bright red worsted. 
The girls in my cooking class helped one after- 
noon, and the Roberts children came over and 



A January Christmas 107 

popped and strung popcorn with us, so we had 
many a social time together. 

It was unusually stormy all the week, with 
frequent falls of snow and much high wind, but 
Friday dawned bright and clear, and the paths 
had been beaten down by travel sufficiently to 
make them easily passable. Hugh and Mr. 
Vierge went into the woods and got a beautiful, 
great tree which just cleared the ceiling of the 
hall, and we sfjent the afternoon decorating it 
and hanging the presents. Milly's bright-colored 
tissue papers and holly ribbon contributed so 
much to the appearance of the packages that we 
thanked her each time we did one up, especially 
as we had been reduced to brown wrapping 
paper, and had with difficulty restrained H — 
from tying the smallest packages with what was 
almost rope, before the Prospero finally came. I 
must also add that we gave Kobert's boxes of 
crayons to three boys who, we knew, would be 
"charmed with them," and that Santa Claus read 
out before the entire audience, "For Jack Rob- 
erts from Robert Morison" when he presented 
the pop gun. Jack enjoyed the gun so thoroughly 
that I could hear it popping all the rest of the 
evening. 

I had never seen more delightful ornaments 
than those Mrs. Webster sent, and certainly their 
like had never been on Pilley's Island before. 
While we were trimming the tree Steve R — re- 
marked, ^Well, there'll be some screechin^ and 



108 Work and Play in the Grenfeil Mission 

bawlin' to-night when the children catch a sight 
of this !" And later on he added, "when this tree 
gets lighted up I guess it'll look about like Para- 
dise.'^ It really was a beautiful sight jvith its 
long, graceful branches loaded with toys and 
dolls and glistening with ornaments and festoons 
of bright tinsel and popcorn, while the pink and 
green packages added color to the whole. The 
hall was so cold that we took up hot cocoa in 
thermos bottles and kept all our wraps on while 
we worked, but by evening the temperature was 
more than high enough, — especially for poor old 
Santa in his mask and furs ! 

We came home about five for a hasty supper, 
trimmed Santa's clothes with wide bands of cot- 
ton, so that he looked positively arctic, and then 
started back for the hall where the children had 
been gathering for almost two hours. You never 
could imagine a more glorious night; cold and 
clear, shining with white stretches of snow, and 
lighted not only by countless twinkling stars but 
by a most beautiful illumination of northern 
lights which flamed up far into the sky above 
the hills, and with their constantly shifting 
forms made a picture of radiant motion which I 
shall never forget. "The whole world is a Christ- 
mas tree and stars its many candles be" I 
thought as we walked on through all this silent 
splendor to where the door and windows of "Hor- 
angemen's 'All" showed many figures outlined 
black against the lamplight. The "porch," as 




Bed at Hospital Paid for by Children's Mystery Play 
Decorations for iNew Year's Tea 




Elcazcr Wear, the Doctor's Guide 



A January Christmas 109 

they call the vestibule, was crowded with unin- 
vited grown people waiting to see if there would 
be room for them to stand. 

Santa Claus of course didn't come with us, as 
there was to be a short program before Ms ar- 
rival, but when the children saAV Mrs. G — they 
broke into loud and continued applause, glad to 
have some outlet for their feelings. Only the 
top of the long-expected tree was visible in the 
half light behind the curtains, so that they were 
all keyed to the highest pitch of expectancy. 

I started the talking machine on a Harry 
Lauder record, and then Mrs. S — and I went 
behind the curtain to do up some presents for 
children who had handed in their names at the 
eleventh hour. Then I made a short address of 
welcome, telling the children that I was sorry the 
Doctor couldn't be with us, but that they knew 
a doctor couldn't always control his time, etc., 
etc. This was followed by the singing of "A 
Funny Old Fellow" by the children who had been 
in the play, a recitation by one of the Harmy 
offspring; song, "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," by 
Jack Eoberts; reading, "Night Before Christ- 
mas," and "Don't Your Hear the Jingle Bells 
King Out from Santa's Sleigh !" by the children. 
In the midst of it, Mr. S — , who was doortender, 
came to the front of the room with a telegram in 
his hand which he said was marked "Important, 
Deliver at once," and was addressed to the Doc- 



110 Work and Play in the Grenfell Missioai 

tor. So we stopped the singing and I read aloud 
the following : 

**To ihe Children of Pillci/'s Island: 

"Left North Pole at noon. Now at Flower's 
Cove. Expect me any minute. 

"Santa Claus." 

This increased the general excitement im- 
mensely, and all the children turned around 
toward the door oftener than before, during the 
singing that followed, while the "Harmy Hen- 
sign'' and the Methodist minister lighted the 
tree. When the song was ended we all listened 
intently, and sure enough there could be heard 
faintly at first but quickly growing louder and 
louder, "the jingle bells ringing out from Santa's 
sleigh/^ and "then in a twinkling'' a window next 
the platform was opened as if by magic, and in 
popped the ruddy and smiling face, the red trou- 
sers, great coat, and top boots all trimmed with 
bands of pure white fur, of jolly old St. Nick 
himself! It was a great moment, and the hall 
echoed and reechoed with resounding applause, 
shouts and laughter, while the littlest children 
began talking at the top of their high voices in 
their irrepressible excitement and wonder. Im- 
mediately the curtains in front of the tree were 
drawTi, and there the marvellous thing stood re- 
vealed, shining and glittering in the light of its 
candles, its branches drooping Tvith the weight of 



A January Christmas 111 

smiling dolls, their arms outstretched toward 
their future mothers, silver trumpets waiting to 
be blown, mysterious bulky packages of pink and 
green, and a variety of toys from a red drum to a 
jumping jack ! Steve had been right ; there was 
^^screechin'andbawlin' " indeed, and we knew that 
all our work had been w^orth while. Santa Claus 
was his own breezy self at his best, and kept the 
children laughing with his jokes while he shook 
hands with the boys crowded around the plat- 
form, inquired w^hether this was surely Pilley's 
Island, and announced that he must get to work 
on the presents at once as his reindeer were apt 
to grow impatient if kept waiting too long. The 
rest of the evening w^as one long round of enjoy- 
ment and I shall always remember the sight of 
bright eyes growing suddenly brighter, as the 
owner stepped forward to receive a gift and bag 
of candy from Santa's hand. I wish you could 
have seen one little tot of a girl who had been 
saying to her family that she ^^must have a doll," 
come fairly striding up the crowded aisle with 
the look of one who would get there in the face 
of any obstacle, when she heard her name callecf 
and saw a beautiful blue-clothed doll that actu- 
ally shut its eyes when you laid it down ! It had 
been given by the Sunday-school class at Park 
Place, and I shall write the children that they 
certainly chose well, for everything they sent was 
received with thrills of joy. The evening closed 
with three rousing cheers for Santa Claus, and 



112 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

we had difficulty in persuading the children to 
leave such a scene of enchantment. 

We have been hearing ever since of the satis- 
faction which many presents gave. One entire 
family spent so much time Saturday afternoon in 
fitting together a picture puzzle that the father 
forgot to bring in the usual "turns" of water for 
Sunday. A little girl who had been given an 
undressed celluloid doll told Livvy to "say thank 
you to Mrs. Greeley for my doll/' and was per- 
fectly happy to carry it around in a large blanket 
"because it was naked.'' One mother told me 
she couldn't get her children to bed until twelve 
o'clock that night, so enraptured were they with 
their presents, and yesterday a little girl about 
thirteen came to the house to tell me how much 
she liked her gift — a little tie — and how much 
obliged all the family were for the things they 
had been given. "There are so many of us," she 
said, "and we each got something ; and mamma 
thinks her present is lovely ; every time she goes 
up stairs she speaks of it and I thought you 
would be hearing that some people as are never 
contented with anything don't like their pres- 
ents, and so I wanted to tell you how much we 
thank you for ours." I thought that was pretty 
remarkable, especially for the daughter of a hope- 
less drunkard and a poor, sickly mother. Every 
girl who got a cap was "charmed" with it, and 
won't wear it except on Sundays, though they are 
simply knitted from wool. 



'A January Christmas 113 

The Christmas play and the party we gave the 
cast are so far past that I can't remember how 
much I have told you about them, so you will 
have to ask me questions if there is anything 
special you want to know. Now that the holi- 
days are at last over and our storeroom, dining 
room and parlor restored to order — we looked for 
two weeks like a factory in the "rush season'^ — 
our attention is mainly engaged with the cooking 
classes and the reading club. I have eight older 
girls and young married women in one class, and 
ten younger girls in another. They meet Tues- 
day and Thursday afternoons, and our first two 
meetings have been more successful than I dared 
hope. We are studying food principles, classifi- 
cation of foods, relative digestibility and nutri- 
tive values of different food stuffs, and proper 
ways of cooking, with enough of the simplest 
physiological facts to make the classes see rea- 
sons for things. The younger class starts to-mor- 
row. At the second meeting of the older one 
yesterday, the members recited what had been 
discussed the week before, having studied it from 
their notes, and I was greatly pleased to see how 
much they remembered. 

To illustrate ways of cooking cornmeal, I had 
made a loaf of steamed brown bread and an In- 
dian pudding and Mrs. Stuckless made some por- 
ridge during the meeting, all of which were new 
to the girls, and were pronounced "grand" after 
being sampled. Next week each member is to 



114 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

bring one of tlie ingredients in a rule for corn 
bread and we will make it together. Deborah 
K — said it had been even more interesting yes- 
terday than the week before. So I am hoping that 
the girls will really become convinced of the 
truth of what they learn. 

The Beading Club is for grown people, and is 
to meet every Monday evening. We held our 
first meeting this week, seventeen being present. 
The English literature books which Mary H — 
gave us, constitute our library for study, and are 
accordingly invaluable to us. We divide the eve- 
ning into two parts; the first hour, from seven 
to eight, being devoted to study ; the second hour 
to reading aloud of entertaining books. We be- 
gan with the earliest days of literature, read 
about the coming of the Jutes, Angles, and Sax- 
ons to Britain, their mingling with the native 
Celts, and then discussed passages from their 
poetry which were given in the textbooks. Mr. 
Stuckless had Bede for his special topic, and 
next week Mrs. G — is to have Csedmon and 
Cynewulf, and Mrs. S — Alfred the Great. Hugh 
read aloud from Howard Pyle's Bobin Hood dur- 
ing the second hour, to the great enjoyment of 
everyone. The poor little minister who feeds on 
Wesley's sermons and the theology of Methodism 
all the week, shouted with laughter when Bobin 
called little John "a saucy varlet," and listened 
to every word with rapt attention. Almost every 
member told how much he had enjoyed the eve- 



A January Christmas 115 

ning, and this from a Newfoundlander means a 
great deal. 

The Boy Scouts have started out the New Year 
with at least twice the energy they displayed be- 
fore, and the addition of eight or ten candidates 
for Tenderfoot has so swelled the ranks that a 
boy has to work hard in order to stay in. The 
boxing gloves and baseballs from Mrs. Webster 
made a marked impression on all the boys at the 
Tree, and Steve suggested that we announce the 
next meeting from the platform, as he knew we'd 
"have a crowd of new fellers.'' We have a new 
treasurer, a boy of seventeen who is so business- 
like in his methods that it brings joy to our 
hearts. Hugh has started a class in First Aid 
to the Injured for the candidates for Second 
Class Scouts, and the two Howell boys are teach- 
ing the rest some military drills they learned in a 
brigade at Grand Falls. Lester B — and I are 
helping the new members to learn the require- 
ments for Tenderfoot, and Bunty is director of 
boxing, so we shall have plenty to occupy our 
time this winter. 

I trust that my readers young and old will 
realize from these hastily written pages that 
there is a reason for the occasional nature of my 
letters, and that it does not mean we have for- 
gotten those that we love in the south because we 
are devoting all our time to the north. The 
winter is flying by so fast that we feel we ought 
to make the most of every moment, though we 



110 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission J| 

liate to tliink that our replies are so inadequate 
t5 the most welcome letters which the dog teams 
bring ns every week. 

We thank you each and all from our hearts for 
all the support and encouragement you have 
given us, and can assure you that the thought of 
your interest has helped us through many a dis- 
couragement. For life is not all roses, even for 
missionaries in Newfoundland I 

Wednesday, January I4. 

The thermometer twenty below. Started out 
about nine o'clock with two men to go to AVard's 
Harbour to see a sick woman. Crossed Pilley's 
Island on rackets, following the telegraph line. 
Beautiful, clear morning. Crossed Long Tickle 
and walked into Lush's Bight on the ice. Very 
rough, slippery going. Blocks of ice were tipped 
at all angles and covered mth light snow. 
Eeached Ward's Harbour about twelve-thirty. 
Woman not sick. Started back about two, seeing 
four patients on the way back : Rheumatic fever, 
Potts' disease, pulmonary tuberculosis, and over- 
feeding. Left Lush's Bight about four o'clock. 
The sun set while I was crossing the ice. Look- 
ing out to sea beyond about two miles of white 
ice, was the deep Tyrian blue of the open water, 
Avhile the distant hills away from the sun were a 
beautiful purple, more beautiful than I had ever 
seen them because of the startling clearness of 
the atmosphere. The sky was a beautiful rose 




W^ell House Found After Two Hours' Search 




Winter Travel 



A January Christmas 117 

color everywhere reflected on to the white ice 
fields in the distance. Truly an Arctic scene. I 
reached Pilley's Island and got half home before 
it became very dark. The path was easy to 
follow through the woods, but when I came to 
the burnt wood tract it became increasingly diffi- 
cult to find the poles as they were almost indis- 
tinguishable from the tall burnt trees in the 
night. I floundered along, taking the direction 
from the wires, which I could barely make out 
against the sky. Pretty soon it got too dark for 
them and I had to follow the hum of the wind in 
the wire. Thus plowing from pole to pole I 
finally reached home, tired, but having had a 
good day without mishaps. Plenty warm from 
the exercise. Eefreshed on the way home by a 
frozen apple, bites of frozen cheese, and mouth- 
fuls of snow. In all I covered about twenty-five 
miles, 

Monday/, January 15, 

Rested, sawed wood, and spent a lazy day. 
Thermometer fifteen above. The first meeting of 
the Reading Club. Fifteen present. F — gave 
a reading on early England and the English, 
showing the determining causes of their litera- 
ture and style. Then followed a few selections 
on the Victrola, and an hour of Howard Pyle and 
Robin Hood. The meeting broke up at about 
nine-thirty. 



118 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Tuesday, January 16. 

The thermometer four below. Snowing and 
blowing hard from the northeast. 

The second meeting of the Tuesday Cooking 
Class. Celie Eowsel added to the list of mem- 
bers. We reviewed last week's lesson, which the 
girls had evidently studied carefully. 

Friday, January S6, 

Started at nine o'clock of a fine but very cold 
day, with a team of four dogs and sledge for 
Three Arms. Went across the harbor to Lory 
Bats Cove, then across the neck to Jerry's Run, 
which had jammed with ice and frozen up very 
rough and slippery. Cakes of ice tilted in every 
direction. One man had to run or walk ahead 
of the leader. I went behind and steadied the 
slide. After about three miles of this we reached 
Miles Cove and crossed the neck to Wellman's 
Cove. No road path. Sledge always veered 
toward the right, necessitating alighting and 
putting back on the track. 

Stopped for a "spell" at Wellman's Cove, 
where we overtook Mr. King and his eight men 
and komatik carrying Harold home. 

From Wellman's Cove to Little Bay Island 
where we had to go because it was not frozen 
around Hall's Head, the ice was very smooth and 
slippery, and the wind fairly blew the dogs off 
their feet. 



i 



A January Christmas 119 

The leader had never led before, so Smith or I 
had to lead him by running ahead. We were 
thankful to do this at times on account of the 
bitter cold. 

Ate some dinner at Suliann's Cove, and started 
on for Wild Bight just as King's crowd came up 
with us. One of them held on the back of our 
sledge and got a lift, so that our poor dogs 
struggled against the wind on very slippery ice, 
their feet sore and bleeding from the sharp ice 
of the early part of the trip. Bitter cold. Shook 
King's party pretty soon. Arrived at Wild Bight 
about three o'clock. Stopped a few minutes and 
went across country to Southern Arm, then to 
Three Arms, arriving about four-thirty P. M. 

Greeted by Mr. Morris, who calmly remarked 
that we ought to have walked through the night 
before instead of waiting for a dog team. He was 
also disappointed to see me instead of Bunty, 
saying behind my back that I "couldn't be a day 
over eighteen." 

Saw about ten cases of measles, all in defer- 
vescing stage. All with a great deal of bron- 
chitis and high temperature. Adults especially 
sick. Spent the night and left at noon the next 
day, arriving at Miles Cove just at dark. Orossed 
the nobbly ice in the dark, arriving home very 
tired after my first dog-team ride, — about fifty 
miles, with leader who had never led befc^ .'e and 
who was sick so that the ride consisted in good 



120 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

part of running before the dogs, showing them 
the way. 

Sunday, January 28, 

Blizzard. Great deal of snow and fierce wind. 
Bunty comes from Lush's Bight and gets lost on 
Sunday Cove Island, reaching here at four P. M. 
Mr. Allenby, the Methodist minister, loses his 
way for over half an hour in Card's Harbour, on 
account of the driving snow. 

Monday, January 29. 

Still snowing. Beading Club postponed on 
account of storm. 

Thursday, February 1. 

Mild and almost raining. Called to Roberts' 
Arm. Tramped across the harbour up through 
Lory Bats' Cove, across the neck and pond and 
Jerry's Run. Good walking, but no path. Got 
to Roberts' Arm about eleven-thirty. Washed a 
baby's face (impetigo). Returned at one-thirty, 
where one of Mrs. Greeley's bountiful and de- 
licious repasts awaited me. 

It is amusing to see how quick the roosters are 
to proclaim a milder day. You hear Mrs. Shear- 
ing's begin to crow the minute the thermometer 
goes up, or as Mrs. Forward said the other day, 
"The fowls are bawlin' " quite as though the well 
were not almost hidden by a drift of snow. 



VI. 



ON DOG TEAMS AND SNOW SHOES 

Pilley's Island, Newfoundland, 
February 2, 1912. 

To M. L. C. 

PEACE be unto you and greetings from the 
Isle of Pilley. When we consider that the 
month after next is April, and that then the 
"month after next" is June, our hearts grow 
great in anticipation. If you knew how con- 
stantly we plan for your visit, and how we think 
of you in connection with every detail of our life 
here, you w^ould be even more anxious — than you 
are ! — to come and be a Pill. Your letters, rare 
both as to quantity and quality, give us endless 
diversion ; our only criticism can be in regard to 
their frequency. As for us, we are unbelievably 
busy for people living in a semi-solitude. But 
like the other great men whom Emerson writes 
of, we find the path to our door daily becoming 
more beaten, though our specialty is neither rat 
traps, pictures, nor sermons. What it is I will 
now unfold to you : 

Monday night — Reading Club, which means 
preparation of an hour's condensed talk on what- 

121 



122 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

ever period of English. Literature we are study- 
ing. 

Tuesday afternoon — Older Cooking Class, 
which means a much longer preparation of an 
hour's talk — or more — on whatever varieties of 
foodstuffs we are studying. Hugh brought up 
several invaluable pamphlets issued by the Bu- 
reau of Experimentation in Washington on 
staple foods, and I bought him Dr. Wiley's 
"Foods and Their Adulteration'' — a most in- 
structive tome — when I was in Boston, so that 
with the help of a lively imagination and some 
scattered memories of my physiology course last 
year, I have plenty of material. The members 
are so genuinely interested in everything we do 
that the work is a pure joy. Each girl reports 
from fifteen to twenty new dishes (cheap and 
nutritive) made at home during the week from 
the recipes dictated at the lesson, all of which 
their families have "liked grand." Next week we 
are to consider ways of making tough meat palat- 
able, a most timely subject as you will realize 
after eating our home-grown beef or mutton. We 
have begun sewing small articles, such as bags, 
ties and traveling cases for the sale which we are 
to hold in the spring, followed by a supper cooked 
by the girls — ^price, $0.20 — which in turn is to be 
followed by a concert arranged by Mrs. Stuck- 
less, and all for the benefit of the hospital. Tell 
Milly the pieces and laces and embroidery silks 
which she gave me supply us with material, to- 



On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 123 

gether with the things E — Quarles contributed, 
and the girls are enraptured by them. I began 
in both classes, as mother suggested, by having 
each member make a bag for her work, from some 
silk curtains which came in a mission box. I am 
surprised to see how thoroughly the girls enjoy 
sewing, and they are all excitement over the 
thought of our tea and sale. While they work we 
play the talking machine or I read aloud, and I 
have difficulty in getting them to leave at six. 

On Thursday the younger class meets. 

Saturday evening, the Boy Scouts hold their 
meeting, at which H — and I are always present 
to prompt the president, when he gets temporar- 
ily embarrassed, and to goad the members into 
making motions "clearly and promptly.'^ The 
Club has doubled in size since December, and re- 
quires considerable management and direction. 
I am much pleased to observe the various forms 
of "self activity" which now go on all in one eve- 
ning: In the club room, the candidates for ad- 
mission are learning — very laboriously — the his- 
tory of the Union Jack and the Scout Law, or 
being shown by an older boy how to tie "four 
standard knots." In the exercise room, two 
panting boys, under Dr. Webster's direction, are 
being taught to box, with many wild lunges at 
each other. In the kitchen, the house commit- 
tee's representatives are sawing wood for dear 
life to feed the stove in the club room, the wind 
whistling through the unglazed windows, and 



124 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

piles of snow lying cozily about everywhere. 
While they saw, they violently dispute with each 
other as to the proper w^ording of the "history 
of the flag/' as I have given them strict orders to 
hear each other say it without a moment's pause 
until they know it. At the hospital, Dr. Greeley 
is teaching "First Aid to the Injured'^ to the can- 
didates for Second Class Scouts, who begin to 
feel a desired pride in their rank since the new 
members have come in. Last Saturday, four 
"big fellers'' of eighteen and twenty joined our 
ranks for a month's probation, and we are very 
much interested to see what sort of material they 
will furnish. 

On Sunday mornings, we go to church when 
the drifts aren't too high, and in the afternoon, 
if there are enough patients at the hospital, we 
hold a little service there, Hugh, Amelia and I 
singing hymns unaccompanied except by sup- 
pressed gusts of laughter on A's or my part, 
when H — gets the tune wrong. Amelia spent a 
week here recently, nursing a strained knee, and 
contributing much to our enjoyment. She is a 
splendid girl, and makes the best of company. 

Friday, February 2. 

A much-belated mail came on foot, bringing a 
letter from Sister Grace and a receipted bill. 



On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 125 
Saturday, February 3. 

Started to make the regular call at Triton. 
Followed mailman's route across Bumble Bee 
Bight and Pilley's Tickle to Pollard's and then 
across Long Arm to Triton. Saw case of chronic 
nephritis. 

Ate my cheese and bread while walking. Ee- 
turned through Card's Harbour, arriving home 
about six-thirty. Total distance about fifteen 
miles. 

Scout meeting at six-thirty. Third meeting of 
First Aid to the Injured Class, at which we re- 
viewed hemorrhage and its control, arteries and 
veins and circulation, and began discussion of 
fracture. 

A violent easterly wind at Triton had broken 
up the ice and was blowing it in shore, so that the 
sea was one mass of floating pieces. Some huge 
ice islands, rising like tall and stately castle 
turrets, their tops veiled in mist, were seen ma- 
jestically cold and forbidding far out to sea. 
This had given a few hardy fishermen the chance 
to go with boat and gun in search of seals. 

Sunday, February Jf. 

Went to church. The Methodist revival begins 
to-day, and continues for two weeks. Mr. A — 
holds daily meetings at which he hopes all those 
still "in the world" will "cry and weep their way 
to Jesus." 



126 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 
« Monday, February 5. 

No meeting of the Eeading Club on account of 
the Methodist revival. 

This prayer came to us in the mail this morn- 
ing. Perhaps it is one of the results of the re- 
vival : 

Common Peay 

Oh lord Jesus I implore thee to Bless all Man- 
kind to keep me from evil and take me to live 
with the Eternally this prays was Sent to me and 
was send all over the World Copy and Send it 
to Nine Friends Sign no name and See what it 
will Bring to you it was Said in Jesus time that 
All who wrote this pray would be Delivered from 
all Calamities But who fail to Send it would 
Suffer Some great Misfortune Commence this 
day you Received it and for Nine Days Copy and 
Send to Someone that Ninth Day you will re- 
ceived some great Joy. 

Do Not Break the Chain. 

Tuesday, Fehruary 6. 

The overland mail arrived after dark, making 
their arrival known by the barking of the dogs 
and the cheering of the boys. Steve brought a 
huge bag of it to us, and we feasted on the con- 
tents till late in the night (for us) . 



On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 127 

Thursday, February 8. 

I talked at the schoolhouse to a crowd of boys 
and girls and a few "grown ups," on "germs and 
personal and general hygiene," with some tb. 
germs under the microscope for the gaping crowd 
to view with awe and wonder. 

February 9, 1912. 
To E. W. E. 

I wish more and more that you could have 
brought the millennium to the children here by 
taking the school this winter. It's all I can do to 
keep from transplanting the present incumbent 
— or incubus — ^myself. He "serves the children 
something cruel'' and last week beat one of the 
nicest little girls over the head, threw her pencil 
box out of the window, broke her slate and tore 
up a book of hers because she was inattentive. 
You might tell this to Class 5, so that they can 
appreciate their good luck in having been born 
in the tolerant "States." 

I appreciate so much your enthusiastic refer- 
ences to mother's intended visit, because I often 
have qualms as to whether I am selfish in urging 
her to come. But I think she can't fail to revel 
in the experience and if everyone in the U. S. 
doesn't hold up his hands in too great horror 
at the thought of such an ordeal, she ought to 
be able to start off with comparative elation. 
People will never believe that we lead a life of 



128 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

serene happiness up here until they share it 
with us. 

Friday, February 9, 

Walked to Newtowne, starting at seven -fifteen 
A. M. Wet, misty and snowy morning. Ice 
latter part of the way very "slobby," but not 
enough so that my snowshoes really sank into it. 

Saw several people, including Mrs. Goudy, 
whom I had treated all summer for phthisis. She 
is now dying of it, having been unable to take 
care of herself. Snowed hard part of the way 
home, which I reached at one P. M. 

Saturday, February 10. 

Scout meeting. Talks on courtesy and chiv- 
alry, by Mrs. Greeley and the Doctor. 

Sunday, February 11. 

Twenty-five below zero, and furious wind blow- 
ing all night. Sky absolutely clear but at times 
atmosphere so full of snow that one can only see 
a short distance. In the house at home all day, 
reading, etc. 

Monday, February 12. 

Clear and cold. Mail reported leaving St. 
John's to-night. Letter from Obadiah Winsor 
at Triton, cracking up the hospital in a loyal 
spirit. 



On Doff Teams and Snow Shoes 129 



'to 



The goats are forlorn objects, as they wander 
from one yard to another, chewing at brown, 
frozen grass blades, and giving only an occa- 
sional melancholy bleat, quite unlike their con- 
versational fluency of last summer. 

Tuesday, Fehruary IS, 

Cooking Class once more. 

In the morning I took the little clothes Mrs. 
Fiske gave me to Mrs. Stuckless, for Dot, and 
to Mrs. Roberts, for Evelyn, both aged ^Ye and 
very cunning. Their joy was beautiful to behold, 
and I wished that Mrs. Fiske could have seen it. 
"Well, I'm fixed now,'' Dot exclaimed to her 
mother with a beaming smile, and that night 
after she had gone to bed, she said happily, "I'm 
glad I'm just as big as I am and no bigger, for I 
certainly will look lovely in those clothes." 
When I left the Eobertses, Evelyn screwed up 
her courage to exclaim, "Say, Mrs. Greeley, Oh, I 
think they're just perfectly beautiful !" 

Wednesday, Fehruary 11}. 

The mail left Millertown. 

Members of the "First Aid to the Injured'' 
class did not all meet at the Club, so we had a 
general discussion, and illustrated resuscitation 
from drowning by artificial respiration. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stuckless and I carried valen- 
tines around to various neighbours, — the Roberts 



130 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

and Mills children, the little Stucklesses and sev- 
eral others. We waited until dusk, and let Mr. 
S — do the knocking and running, while we hid 
behind a wood pile or a corner of the house, re- 
straining our shrieks of laughter with difficulty 
when the poor man plunged head first into 
a snow drift. The valentines were second-hand 
postcards with paper pasted over the old ad- 
dresses, but the pleasure of the receivers was in 
no way impaired by this detail, we have learned. 
It was such a glorious night ! The cold purity of 
the air, the glittering brightness of the stars, and 
the white stretches of the snow on the hills and 
harbour, made "but being alive bliss, and being 
young very ecstasy.'^ 

Thursday, February 15. 



Miss Forbes to dinner. Cooking Class. Mail ! 
Gave lecture at schoolhouse in evening on tu- 
berculosis. 

Saturday, February 17. 

Rather quiet day. Scouts meeting at night. 
Scouts reported on deeds of chivalry during the 
week. 

First Aid to the Injured Class had a complete 
review. Mrs. G — read "Sir Launfal.'^ 

Storming quietly when we came home. 

Sunday, February 18. 

Another howling blizzard this morning, but 
not so severe as usual. Went to the hospital for a 



Ou Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 131 

few minutes. Aside from this had a quiet day at 
home reading medical journals. 

Had a roast duck for dinner which tasted, as 
do all the other live stock and dairy products 
here, — like fish. Yolks of eggs are just like 
smoked herring. Chickens taste like smoked 
salmon. Sea birds are flying fish. The cause lies 
in the exclusively fish diet of fowls and chickens. 
The disappointment of the housekeeper may be 
imagined, when the first fresh eggs we have had 
in months, were brought to our door by a w^oman 
from Card's Harbour last week and I joyfully 
bought all she had, mentally planning a complete 
^'egg dinner" as a surprise for the doctor. We 
had omelet, custard and sponge cake, and every 
one of these much anticipated dishes tasted ex- 
actly the same, — like the salt fish the hens had 
been fed on. Mrs. S — tells me that no one ever 
buys eggs from Card's Harbour as fish is the regu- 
lar chicken diet there. 

Monday, Februa/ry 19. 

Said to be the worst winter for snow in ten 
years. Snow on the railroad in many places, soft 
and deep. Only one freight train across the 
country since Christmas. Mild and thawing 
here now. 

Eeading Club met here in the evening. First. 
Brief discussion of literature of the Bible. Sec- 
ond. Early development of English literature. 
Third. Heading of old English ballads. 



132 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Tuesday, February 20. 

Mild. No news of any mail. Cooking Class. 
Bunty left on dog team for a week or more at 
King's Point. 

The most beautiful white fog moved slowly 
through the Narrows into the harbour and so on 
over all the island just at dusk. It was curious 
to see it in the presence of so much snow. I 
heard a chickadee on Mrs. Shearing's porch this 
morning, and hurried to throw out crusts of 
bread for it, but her wretched cat frightened it 
away, and fought with a neighbour for the crusts. 
This was a necessary addition to its diet, I im- 
agine, after the pounds of our venison that it con- 
sumes jucily whenever the woodshed door is left 
open. 

Wednesday, Fehruaty SI. 

Local mail came. Nothing for us. Still mild. 
The air had a real spring feeling to it which made 
Mrs. Stuckless and me search with enthusiasm 
for a suitable spot for a picnic, but the drifted 
snow refused to make a place for us. I called on 
the Forwards in the morning and found Ella 
sitting on the sofa regarding with rapture the 
valentine which she had been sent by an un- 
known admirer, and which was really an old pic- 
ture postcard with "To My Valentine'^ printed 
on it in the Doctor's hand. She divided her ab- 
sorbed attention between this and a postcard that 



On Do^' Teams and Snow Shoes 133 



'& 



Emily had sent her some months ago, turning 
them over and over with complete admiration. 

Thursday, February 22. 

Mild. Cooking Class. Intense interest. Lec- 
ture at the school on care of the teeth. An- 
nouncement of Public Library to be opened at 
hospital. 

Celebrated Washington's Birthday with an 
American Flag, Washington pie and My Country 
'Tis of Thee. 

Mrs. Rondell, an old lady at the hospital, was 
called for by an ox sled which H — says consisted 
solely of two runners held together at each end 
by a cross piece, and four uprights. It was evi- 
dently expected that the old lady would reach 
from one cross piece to the other, but H — finally 
got a plank to bridge over the hiatus, and they 
strapped her on with a hospital blanket and a 
safety pin. Her road home lay across the harbour, 
which was then about two feet deep in slob ice, 
so I didn't entirely envy her the journey. 

The Scouts came to hear the Victrola in the 
evening. 

Friday, February 23. 

Turned cold again toward night. Quiet day. 
Mrs. S — and I had a most delightful walk "over 
Bumble Bee Bight way," ending in the meadow 
which looks over toward the hospital. There was 
a high wind blowing and the cold air was glori- 



134 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

ous. We met "a moving wood" which proved to 
be a sled loaded with evergreen trees, and pushed 
from behind by a man who doubtless has his 
opinion of Samuel Anthony for having the dogs 
killed in order to protect his sheep. There is an 
icy crust on the snow, since the late "mild'' has 
been followed by freezing, and H — went over to 
Bumble Bee Bight to order some planks for a 
toboggan. We stopped in at Mrs. Roberts' on the 
way back, and asked her to come home with us 
for tea. Amelia was here enjoying the Victrola 
and open fire when we got back, so we had quite 
a party. 

Sunday, February 25. 

Went to church. The drifts are now so high 
that we Vv^alk on a level with the tops of the tele- 
graph poles. 

Monday, February 26, 

Reading Club in the evening. After an hour 
spent in the history of English literature up to 
Spenser's time, continuing the discussion of 
the Renaissance in England, I read aloud some 
of the King Arthur stories. 

Mr. and Mrs. F — came to dinner at night be- 
cause it was Mr. F's sixty-second birthday. 
Grace was said by Mrs. F — , and later, just be- 
fore our dessert came in, Mr. F — thanked the 
Lord again. This was fortunate, as he did not 
care for the ice cream, so he could not have been 



On Doof Teams and Snow Shoes 135 



't? 



so thankful after taking it. "This would be good 
in hot weather/' he said. 

He enjoyed the reading so much that he wished 
he could "go in and out of the w^ords with a hox 
instead of a 'arse and have a lot of time to read." 

I went into the woods in the morning and 
helped Mr. F — and Mr. S — with a load and rode 
out with Mr. Koberts. 

Tuesday, February 27. 

Telegraphed Springdale for a dog team to take 
me around the southern part of the bay on my 
route. 

Wednesduy, February 28. 

About four o'clock Mr. Joshua Gilliard came 
in with six dogs. After discussing route, lack of 
path, soft snow and the fact that he didn't know 
the way, we decided to give it up for the present 
anyway. So he went to bed with his dogs at the 
hospital. He was dressed in a very picturesque 
large, brown check, with patches of brown shad- 
ing in the material, a hunter's and trapper's suit 
looking much like deer hide. 

We all went to bed, but were routed out by a 
telegram brought by hand from Roberts' Arm 
from Bunty. "Acute appendix Springdale. 
Come at once." We dressed at top speed, replied 
we were coming, and Miss Gleason and I and 
Mr. Gilliard started off at twelve midnight. The 
dogs were all black but one. "Frisco," the 
leader, then "Stump," then "Traveler," then 



136 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

"Miner/' then "Hunter/' and "Bob." They led 
well and needed no urging, but doggedly tugged 
away in their harness across Jerry's Kun. We 
had to walk to Spencer's Rock, because the road 
was so sliding. 

The sky was heavily overcast, but a nearly full 
moon behind the clouds made the hills and trees 
stand out clearly in their snowy garb. When we 
finally got to Roberts' Arm, after walking 
through about two miles of deep slob, we struck 
into the woods, now going through short clumps 
of firs, now over the crest of a burned over hill 
on which the naked trees were tossed about like 
scattered jackstraws. Then winding down some 
abrupt slope, we would glide onto a level white 
pond, the path being blown over and only wide 
enough for the komatik, so that whenever the 
dogs or we got off, we would sink into deep snow 
up to our middle. The moon would peep through 
occasionally and cast a beautiful soft light on 
hill and snow-covered fir. The path was so nar-; 
row and the trees so thick in places and so 
straight and tall in their snowy beauty, that we 
seemed to be passing along amid cathedral spires. 
The woods were warm and the stillness unbroken 
except by the occasional "Now Hunter," "Back 
Bob," "Frisco, hold off." Some of the open 
glades seemed so quiet and beautiful and warm 
in their garment of snow that we should not have 
been surprised to have come upon Titania sleep- 
ing on a bank, or Puck darting through the air 



On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 137 

across our path. At other times, after winding 
np to the summit of a hill by a path so narrow 
that from behind the dogs' backs were one con- 
tinuous black line threading slowly along like a 
huge snake, — for the light of the moon gave us 
only outlines and not details, — we would come 
upon a scene whose wildness reminded me of the 
fastness of an Indian chief, or an outlook 
whence he could see the distant hills and the sea, 
whose dull, slaty black we caught sight of 
through the trees and heard the wash of the 
waves on the shore. 

Finally descending abruptly along a cliff we 
fairly dropped onto a shelf of ice about six to 
eight feet wide with the tall, black, precipitous 
cliffs on the left, and the heaving sea on the right, 
filled with ice and slob, tossing and splashing in 
the tide. The shelf of ice and snow over which 
our road went, shone with bright spots of phos- 
phorescence as the waves retreated from it. 

After skirting our way along these cliffs for 
about a half mile, we struck across the frozen 
bay and in another hour were at Springdale, hav- 
mg traveled six hours and passed through a 
fairyland of beauty, which passes description. 
Ponds, hills, woods, glades, bleak marshes, rocky 
cliffs, the open sea and the frozen bay in the pale 
and clouded moonlight, made the trip one of 
mystic and marvelous beauty, the experience of 
a lifetime. 



138 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

An acute appendix operation was pulled off 
Friday morning. I left for home at one P. M., 
and arrived at five-thirty, having enjoyed the trip 
almost as much as I did going over in the night, 
especially coasting down the hill at breakneck 
speed, not caring for trees or stumps, through 
which we went with incredible safety, not once 
grazing them, although we expected at any mo- 
ment to be brought up fair against one. The 
komatik steered itself with wonderful accuracy, 
and went so fast that once or twice we ran the 
dogs down in our headlong speed. I came back 
alone with Bunty's fresh team and Mr. Budgell, 
of Southwest Arm. 

Tuesday, March 5. 

Started with Mr. Wear on my southern trip. 
A bitter cold day. Mr. Wear carried my ruck- 
sack, I a small knapsack. Before we reached 
the first point beyond Mr. Forward's, about a 
^Ne minutes' walk, Mr. Wear's ear was frozen, 
and when he looked around at me he said, "Your 
nose is right solid." The end of it was frozen. I 
thawed it quickly, and we continued our way. 
A minute later, as we turned the point, the cold 
wind struck us and brought tears to my eyes. I 
closed them to squeeze them out and the tears 
froze my lashes together. We struck out at a 
good pace, keeping our hands over our faces. By 
nine o'clock the sun had warmed the air a little, 
and by eleven, when we reached Shoal Arm, 



On Dog Teams and Snow Shoes 139 

Badger Bay, after crossing Sop's Arm, it was 
quite comfortable traveling. Here we stopped 
for tea and ate our lunch, borrowed the key to 
Mr. BudgelFs shop and went in search of a pair 
of skin boots which I had ordered. I found one 
pair in his office and appropriated them. 

We then struck out across Badger Bay, and 
crossed the neck to Seal Bay, Bog Harbour, reach- 
ing there about two-thirty. Tea again. We left 
to cross Seal Bay, but got lost and wandered up 
nearly to the bottom of the Bay, instead of cross- 
ing directly to Buckley Cove, to which we got 
back after losing fully an hour. Buckley Cove 
was full of a small growth of birches and spruce, 
and literally crossed and recrossed with thou- 
sands of rabbit tracks. As we came into Lockes' 
Harbour, it was getting dusk, and we met three 
men and a team of three dogs hauling wood, who 
asked us home with them. We were ready 
enough to go as it was getting nipping cold again 
and my face was fairly numb. 

After about a mile of travel we took off our 
snowshoes for the first time that day, and on the 
path we came to a winter tilt under a hill. A 
tilt is a roughly-made one-story shack built in 
the woods, thus providing shelter from the winter 
storms and making it possible to get fuel easily. 
On entering, the first sight which struck our eye 
was a day-old lamb by the stove, giving out its 
^^blat" at regular and frequent intervals and 
keeping it up all night. Supper of rabbit was 



140 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

prepared and we sat down tired and hungry. 
While eating, I felt a ^^nip" at my foot and looked 
down to see that I was sitting close to a bench 
which went around the wall and was in fact 
barred across the front to make a chicken coop, 
and it was an old hen pecking her nose through 
the bars at my foot. While eating we looked 
around at the cabin, a one-room affair divided 
across the end and middle by hanging quilts into 
three compartments. The only light came from 
a window two feet by one and a half in the main 
part, the two sleeping quarters being unlighted 
and unaired. The floor was covered with saw 
dust ; around the room were the hencoops. The 
door of entrance came through a sort of shed 
or "porch" and was about three feet high, so you 
had almost to crawl in. Two families lived here. 
One moved out to some neighbours' and Mr. 
Wear and I occupied one "bed room'' and one 
bed, being thrust into the darkness behind the 
quilt. Whether we were to find bread rising in 
the bed, as sometimes is the case, or more ani- 
mated objects, we did not know. The dirt we 
could not see, but could feel and smell. The 
bunk was of three-quarters width and one-half 
the usual length of a bed, so that it was only the 
fatigue of our first day's tramp of about eighteen 
miles which made rest possible. 




Tlie Due lor on Walking Trip 




Wild Bight 



On D02: Teams and Snow Shoes 141 



'& 



Wednesday^ March 6. 

We tumbled out early and crossed the Neck 
and took the ice for Leading Tickle, reaching 
there about eleven o'clock. After seeing a few 
patients, we repaired to Mr. Lannon's and had 
dinner. Spent the rest of the day in visiting pa- 
tients. Measles had run an unchecked course 
through the community, none who had not had it 
escaping. 

Thursday, March 7, 

Went to the Eastern Tickle, saw a few patiente 
and then started for Cottles Cove, crossing the 
country some distance above the Tickle in order 
to insure firm ice across New Bay. Even then, 
there were many small, unfrozen places and a 
staff was necessary to test the ice where snow had 
covered it. We reached Cottles Cove at about 
two-thirty. As we came across the ice, we saw a 
"nose hole" in thin ice where a seal had poked 
his head up to breathe. 

Crossed to Fortune Harbour to let them know 
of our advance and wire home. A milder and 
easier day. Sixteen miles. 



VII. 

WE WELCOME A STRANGER 

March 8, 1912. 

DURINGr the past fiyo; weeks we have had 
but one mail, and this noon when White- 
horn and his team finally appeared he 
brought a sled almost bare of bags, and the one 
which it did boast contained only local letters — 
odious little Newfoundland envelopes holding re- 
quests for pills — and some packages which had 
been held at Badgers for several weeks, and none 
of which apparently was destined for the Greeley 
family. If we hadn't telegraphed home so re- 
cently, I should be tempted to send you a night 
letter to-day, but since there is nothing of start- 
ling Importance to communicate, I shall allow 
chill penury to check my noble rage and freeze 
the genial current of my soul. 

My friends, I am alone. The Doctor left me on 
Tuesday morning with Mr. Wear as guide, to 
travel on foot through his southern district, heal- 
ing the sick and cheering the weak and aged as he 
goes. If I hadn't thought it would have made 
him seem too pitifully like ^^Henpecko the Monk" 
— as Bunty called him when he found him doing 
the family washing in Livvy's absence — I should 

142 



We Welcome a Stranger 143 

have stated frankly that I hated the thought of 
his going; but he was so anxious to be up and 
doing and business was so slack nearer home that 
I couldn't bear to suggest his giving it up, par- 
ticularly as Bunty has just been on a two weeks' 
northern trip which netted the hospital a wel- 
come eighty dollars. Mr. W^ear knows every foot 
of the way and promised me to take no risks on 
"slob ice'' or drifted paths, and the weather has 
been gloriously perfect ever since they left until 
to-day, when it is again snowing. I had a tele- 
gram, much to my joy, last night, saying that 
they had reached Cottle's Cove in the morning 
and were having a fine trip, and asking me to 
reply to Fortune to-day, so you see they are cov- 
ering the ground quite rapidly. I expect them 
back a week from Saturday, and meanwhile the 
time is passing pleasantly for me with many 
hours of sleep, a long walk each day, my classes, 
and the baby's dear clothes to be sewed upon, a 
task, or rather a recreation, — in which my soul 
finds an increasingly greater delight. If the 
little garments all have "the vitality of a free- 
hand drawing," at least there never were more af- 
fectionate stitches taken nor more loving touches 
given, since babies were first miraculously ex- 
pected. I have one more occupation in the book- 
keeping lesson which Mr. Stuckless is giving me 
so that I can keep the hospital accounts. I have 
wanted to relieve Hugh of this ever since we 
came, and he finally agreed to turn it over to me 



144 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

as it^s such a good chance to learn from an ex- 
perienced person. Mr. S — gave me three large 
tomes from the Mining Company's relics, a cash 
book, journal and ledger, and a bottle of red ink 
and sheaf of blotters, so that I am quite comme 
il faut in my methods. You should see me wear- 
ing white cuffs over my sleeves as I "post to the 
ledger'' or consult Hugh's letter books just like a 
real business woman ! I fair laugh. 

One of the pleasantest experiences I have ever 
had is the giving of grammar and composition 
lessons to Mr. and Mrs. S — and Miss G — , the tele- 
graph operator. They are so eager to learn that 
even — father or Sam, let us say — couldn't help 
enjoying the role of teacher, so that you can im- 
agine what delight I find in it. They take the 
greatest pains with their lessons, and are study- 
ing out of some old textbooks that they had, until 
the new ones come. We have had two evening 
classes this week and are to meet again tonight, 
as it is a splendid way of relieving my "long, sad 
vigils" during the Doctor's absence. 

The most delightful thing of all I have left till 
the last, and that is the winter picnics that we 
have been on twice ! The first time Amelia went 
with the Stucklesses and me, and we got Mr. 
Blackmore who was going in for wood, to drive 
us part way on his sled. We go past the hospital 
and up a long hill and then down another hill to 
the left until we come to a large rock sheltered 
from the wind where we sit on shawls and watch 



We Welcome a Stranger 145 

Mr. S — build a fire while we unpack the lunch. 
If you see Kuth M — do tell her how invaluable 
her thermos bottles and case are. Our first din- 
ner consisted of venison broiled over the fire on 
long sticks, hot baked potatoes brought from the 
hospital, macaroni and cheese, coffee, bread and 
butter, gingerbread, cookies and cheese; with a 
view of white encircling hills, and a snow shoe 
trail patterned out across Long Pond and up the 
long slope leading to "the route'' which would 
have stirred the hearts of the dullest company. 
Yesterday Mr. Forward took Mrs. S — and me, 
while Mr. S — went ahead to start the fire. It 
was an even more beautiful day than the other 
one had been, with a silvery blue light lying over 
all the shining hills, so that I thought Emanuel 
Land could not have looked more wonderfully 
beautiful to Christian than this did to me. The 
snow thaws just enough at noonday to make a 
coating of water which freezes against later on 
and glistens in the sunlight like a magic veil. 
We are having almost cloudless blue skies, some- 
times very deep in hue, sometimes pale turquoise, 
and the contrast with the white snow beneath 
fills one with gratitude. 

We had two ministers to tea last Monday eve- 
ning, — Mr. T — , in whom we take a really pa- 
rental interest, and a Mr. L — from Little Bay Is- 
land, who came down to assist at the "Mission'ry 
meetin'." He is quite superior to most represen- 
tatives of the cloth about here, is an Englishman 



146 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission- 
by birth, had heard The Messiah and II Trovatore 
ifi New Brunswick, and had just been reading 
Thackeray, so we felt astonishingly cosmopolitan 
in our table talk. It greatly pleased my sense 
of the fitness of things to have "the ministers to 
tea," and I made a custard for the event myself 
in emulation of bygone Pollys and Deborahs of 
whom I have often read. The week before, we 
asked Mr. and Mrs. W — to take tea with us in 
honor of his birthday, and aside from the fact that 
he inadvertently asked grace before the ice cream 
was brought in, thinking the meal was over, 
everything went off perfectly. Mrs. W — brought 
us four fresh eggs, some partridge berries and 
two kinds of jam, to express her appreciation, 
and Mr. W — said at supper, "Well, when I write 
*Emy' that I've been takin' tea with the Doctor 
on my birthday — " and paused there in speech- 
less wonder. Our neighbors grow kinder every 
day and more expressive of gratitude for any- 
thing we do for them. Julia P — a cooking 
class pupil — told me yesterday that '^mamma'' 
had a hen she wanted to kill for me if I'd like 
some fowl, and Mrs. Shearing came over to say 
that a young chicken she has been saving for a 
hen crowed yesterday for the first time, so she at 
once decided she would "give it to Mrs. Greeley." 
This morning Celie K — came with a dozen fresh 
eggs from her mother — and there could be no 
more self-sacrificing gift than that — and last 
night Steve came and offered to take our barrel 



We Welcome a Stranger 147 

^^een around to the pond'' and fill it with drink- 
ing water, as the wells have again gone dry. All 
these things make life very pleasant. All my 
neighbours are so interested in my health that I 
am hardly allowed to take a step unsupported, 
and you would think I was the most fragile look- 
ing creature imaginable. Last week Mrs. Shear- 
ing invited us to her birthday party, the two 
nurses, Winnie Garland and the Stucklesses 
being the other guests. I had Livvy make a 
freezer of ice cream, the nurses made a cake, and 
H — and I wrote a song which we sang with Mrs. 
S — and A — to the tune of "The Low Backed 
Car." Kesult: overpowering applause and ap- 
preciation. 

On Saturday I gave a birthday party for the 
three little Stuckless girls whose natal days are 
all within ten days of each other, but I've written 
so much that I refuse to describe it. Last night 
I took tea at \he S's and was regaled with sev- 
eral delicious a^'shes made from Cooking Class 
rules. Mrs. S — i":^ certainly as good a little soul 
as ever lived, and :ao mother could watch over 
her daughter more thoughtfully than she does 
over me. She has so much sense, too, that she 
makes a perfect companion, and I feel most for- 
tunate in having her. She learned tatting under 
my direction in about ten minutes and is per- 
fectly delighted with it, and does it so much 
better than I that I am thinking of taking lessons 
from her. She is going to make enough for one 



148 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

of the little flannel petticoats, and last night con- 
fessed that she has sent for material to make me 
a baby dress after a pattern I admired. She is 
always saying she should "just love" to help me 
with the sewing, in spite of all she has to do her- 
self. She and her husband are to breakfast with 
me at ten o'clock to-morrow morning. I take 
my dinners at the hospital and A — is to begin 
to-night spending the nights here until Hugh's 
return, for I can't help being afraid in true New- 
foundland fashion that the house might catch on 
fire. 

Since beginning this I have had another mes- 
sage from Hugh saying that he has been called to 
Exploits and will probably start homf ; from there 
on Sunday, so a week from to-day he ought to be 
here, tra la. 

Fred Spenser just called to say that the mail is 
to close to-night instead of to-movrow morning 
so I must hastily follow its example. By the time 
you get this you will probably have had your visit 
from mother and she will be on her way to us! 
Yes, it is a good world ! 

Saturday, March 9. 

Consulted by Mrs. Pa'crick Mooney, who had 
had a "shocking bad hpad all winter till he rose 
and broke" over her er.r inside where she felt it 
"squashin' around" and then it discharged right 
through her left nostril, savin' my presence. 



We Welcome a Stranger 149 

Having telegraphed Exploits that I would 
come if there were any sick and being sent for 
by the father of a sick boy, we set out across the 
southern arm of Fortune Harbour to Northern 
Harbour and thence across the ice to Exploits, 
reaching there about ^yq P. M. Ten miles for the 
day, all on snowshoes. Went right to see the sick 
boy who had a middle ear and deep abscess of 
the neck, which I opened under ether given by old 
Mrs. Manuel, whose head boasted of a crop of 
seven, shiny, rounded wens sticking through the 
sparse, white hair. 

Pulled teeth for Mr. J. C. The process of ex- 
tracting the first one, a lower canine, loosened 
the next tooth so completely that it had to come 
out. Having begun, the removal of each one left 
its neighbour without a prop, and they all 
promptly loosened. He suffered keen disap- 
pointment, but being a man of few words only 
vouchsafed a "My God'' when the worst one came 
out, thinking long and soberly between extrac- 
tions, whether he should have another out, and 
finally when all of his lower teeth were gone 
(there were only six), he came out with " 'Twas 
the upper ones I was thinking of having out,^' 
paid me and left, a sadder and a wiser man. 

Sunday, Murch Id. 

Sunday came on one of our typical blizzards, 
with as heavy a fall of snow as any yet. It still 



150 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

continaed Monday and Monday night, blowing 
aild drifting "wonderfully." 

Spent a good part of Sunday reading Longfel- 
low's "Tales of a Wayside Inn," and Tennyson, 
talking with the Manuels and discussing Dr. 
Grenfell's work. 

Monday, March 11, 



Saw patients at Exploits. 



Tuesday, March 12. 



Made the Manuels promise to leave me a cold 
lunch on the table, so that we could make an 
early start. Consequently, at six-thirty Mr. 
Wear and I set out for Charles' Brook across 
Exploits Bay. The storm of the two preceding 
days had left a heavy fall of snow, which had 
blown very rough and nobbly and somewhat 
hard, so that it was hard walking. We pegged 
on and on across what seemed to be endless ice, 
not stopping to take a "spell," as our feet were 
in such a condition that a rest made a fresh 
start harder. At about twelve-thirty we dragged 
ourselves into Charles' Brook, sixteen miles, and 
had a good dinner at Mr. P's, who has all records 
beaten for spoiled children. His son, about two 
years, has his own way in everything, eating and 
entertainment included. His father interrupted 
every task to go out and drive an old horse by 
the window for his son's edification. The only 
thing that was not granted was a repeated re- 



We Welcome a Stranger 151 



&^ 



quest for more medicine. His own food, and any 
food he could get his hands on, he shared mouth- 
ful for mouthful with a cat, or took himself after 
the cat had finished with it or refused it. 

Being fairly rested, we decided to push on for 
Point Leamington, stopping once for tea at Bud- 
gelPs Arm, New Bay, and crossing through 
Bobby's Arm to Point Leamington, which we 
reached at seven P. M., scarcely able to draw one 
foot after the other. Distance for the day, 
twenty-five miles, every step on snowshoes. No 
path. 

Wednesday, March 13. 

Obtained lodgings at Mrs. LeDrews, a nice, 
clean place. Owing to a mistake in my telegram, 
nobody knew of my arrival, so I went around 
the harbour calling at a few houses to see if any- 
one wanted me, and then struck out for home. 

We reached Northwest Arm about one-thirty 
o'clock, still footsore, chronically so now, not 
blistered, but just as if our ankle joints were 
gone and our snowshoes and feet were dangling 
by stretched and sore tendons. We thought we 
would push on across to Thimble Tickles, though 
it had begun to snow fairly hard. Reached here 
at four o'clock and left again at four-fifteen, 
though the men said we were foolish to start on 
in the rough weather with eight miles to go be- 
fore dark. We thought we would risk it, because 
we didn't want to be held up there if it was com- 



152 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission- 
ing on stormy again. We struck out with re- 
newed energy because of our definite goal, but 
long before we got there it began to flag and our 
feet began to ache. However, it did not get any 
thicker, but rather let up, and after traveling 
across twice as many arms and necks we were 
sure as we did when we went out from home, we 
fell into Mr. Anstey's just after dark. Distance, 
twenty miles. 

During the night it rained, though our ears 
were deaf to any noise. We rose late, about 
eight o'clock, and started on the last lap for 
home at nine-thirty, our legs sorer than ever. 

I tried every device for shortening the jour- 
ney, looking forward to a certain goal, then keep- 
ing my eyes steadily on the ground till I thought 
we were close to it or until it seemed I must look 
up, finally looking up and finding the goal had 
perceptibly retreated. Counting up to five hun- 
dred steps, which I thought surely would bring 
the goal nearer, but no, this also seemed to place 
greater distance between us and our viewpoint. 

After crossing an arm of Badger Bay to July's 
Harbour, we came upon a very steep ridge over 
which we had to go, up through the bed of a 
brook. Mr. Wear looked back wearily at me and 
remarked, "Here is a mountainous gulch we've 
got to climb." I was fairly "cowed out," as the 
snow was very wet and at each step it seemed as 
if I were lifting ten pounds of snow and racket 
and one hundred pounds of foot. Across Sof s 



We Welcome a Stranger 153 

Arm we dragged ourselves, making snail's pace. 
Finally, as we came around the head of the arm, 
we caught sight of the harbour and tiny specks 
of houses in the bare, snow-covered hills, — home 
a faint speck. I watched that speck for what 
seemed two hours before it got any larger and 
traveled toward it for half a day or more before 
it seemed within possibility of reach. Then, 
after a long while, we reached Denny's Point and 
were soon home. Keally only about two miles 
since we first spied the harbour. 

Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16» 

Our whole trip as outlined, does not seem the 
happiest occasion possible, but it was really hap- 
pier than pictured, though it was more hard work 
than play, and the country through which we 
passed was bleak and barren. The open, frozen 
sea was ever inspiring and Exploits Bay with its 
thousand islands and smooth expanse of dazzling 
white, snow-covered ice, something never to for- 
get. The road we went was about one hundred 
and twenty-five miles, and we walked about 
twenty-five more seeing sick people at our stop- 
ping places. The last three days of uninter- 
rupted travel in which the mere putting of one 
foot in front of the other, became a most irksome 
and monotonous necessity, totaling about sixty 
miles of snowshoe work, was far from pure en- 



154 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

joyment. To say that we were tired is unneces- 
sary, but we were brown and hardy. 

Wednesday y March 20. 

Bunty brought in two telegrams this morning, 
one from Mr. Matthews, Kings Point, whose 
daughter is very sick, and another from Three 
Arms summoning us to see Mrs. Knight. No dog 
team available, but Mr. Shearing consented to 
take us to Sunday Cove Tickle to meet a dog team 
coming out from Springdale. So off we started 
in his side seater, F — , he and I, across Lory 
Bat's Pond to Jerry's Kun and up through Sun- 
day Cove Tickle. Opposite Newtown a dog team 
was descried hugging the shore. We stopped to 
parley and I ran across the ice, finding Mr. Bud- 
gelPs team waiting for me. The "Run" was al- 
most snow free so the going was splendid. I 
transferred teams and waved good-bye, as Mr. 
Shearing and F — turned around. We were 
"fair blown" down to Shoal Arm, the dogs speed- 
ing along at a gallop. We stopped a few minutes 
in Boot Harbour to see a boy and partake of a 
short lunch, washed down by a drink composed of 
one-fourth sugar, one-fourth "bake apples," one- 
half hot water. We arrived at Springdale at 
three P. M., not stopping. 

It soon became clouded over and began to 
snow. Across the marshes the route was hard 
under foot until we came to a pond where the 



We Welcome a Stransrer 155 



{=>"' 



dogs rushed ahead and splashed into the water 
and began swimming. Thej were quickly with- 
draAvn and komatik taken around the pond, 
across a brook which we bridged with the sled, 
the dogs walking across on the thin ice which 
would not bear us. We joined three mail teams 
with nine dogs apiece and strung out for many 
yards, each driver shouting his characteristic 
jargon and calling his dogs by their names. The 
man in the first team stood upright, waving his 
arms and gesticulating to his dogs. The whole 
scene was most romantic, as the dusk fell and 
the snow fell thick and silent on the already 
heavily laden spruce and fir trees, while here and 
there glistened the beautiful, silvery trunks of 
clumps of birches. We reached King's Point at 
dark, wet and tired. Saw and quarantined two 
cases of typhoid. Visited many patients during 
the following day, which dawned clear and cold, 
with a furious gale of wind that quickly dried 
the wet snow so that it commenced to drift and 
filled the air like a genuine storm. It w^as im- 
possible to see even a few yards, and almost im- 
possible to stand against the fury of the blinding 
snow, which was like sand driving against one's 
face. The moment it struck against neck or 
cheek it froze in a crust. 

Friday, after vainly trying to get a local dog 
team to take me to Three Arms, I had to walk to 
Rattling Brook. The wind and snow w^ere much 
the same as the day before and I was twice taken 



156 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

off my feet on the ice and blown along for some 
yards before I could arrest my progress and 
stand up. Got a team at Battling Cove and 
started with the wind at our backs for Three 
Arms. It fairly blew us, komatik, dogs and all, 
down and out the Arm. The dogs could just keep 
ahead of the sled. It was bitter cold. Our eight- 
een miles through Jackson's Cove was accom- 
plished in two and a half hours or a little less, 
and we arrived in Three Arms about four P. M. 
After supper we were called to Southern Arm 
and started out with dogs again. They went 
splendidly at night, not stopping or getting 
tangled. Their names were Caesar, Buffalo, 
Frisk, Tansy, Tip, Carlo, Beaver, and Wrinkle, — 
the latter "Wrink'' for short. 

The next morning we started about nine 
o'clock for home, reaching Spencer's Dock about 
three, going to Southern Arm, Wild Bight, Fox's 
Neck to Little Ward's Harbour, — Salt Pond, 
Hall's Bay, Wellman's Cove, Miles^ Cove, Jerry's 
Kun. A beautiful day with a little element of 
excitement, as neither dogs or men knew the way 
across Salt Pond. 

Arrived home with great joy at about three- 
thirty. Saw nearly twenty people and cleared 
about thirty-five dollars. 

Monday, March 25, 

Mr. Penny arrived in the evening with ten dogs 
to go "eento Badgers" the next day to meet moth- 



We Welcome a Stranger 157 

er's train. Her visit has been our cMef topic of 
conversation for some weeks. 



Tuesday, March 26. 

Started about nine o'clock for Sof's Arm. The 
dogs burst forth from the hospital and ran down 
the hill past Duder's and CampbelFs, we holding 
on in wonder and fear as to whether we should 
ever reacb the bottom. We finally did and safely, 
though I thought the komatik was going right 
through the houses. 

We arrived at Sof's Arm and stopped for tea, 
then on to "Eooshey Pond/' where the night was 
spent in a log cabin which Mr. Penny had built 
for hunting, — a one-room affair, one end occu- 
pied by a bunk built on boughs and covered with 
a deerskin. In the center was a stove made from 
a linseed oil can about eighteen inches high, with 
a hole cut in the top and a door to create a 
draught. A table stood on one side opposite a 
narrow door just wide enough to enter, the only 
air or light giver. We woke up at intervals of 
two or three hours or less to rebuild the fire, cut 
wood, chopped a hole in the lake for water, etc. 
The cabin was so nearly snowed in that just the 
top of the door and the roof was visible. 

We arose betimes and started off after break- 
fast about six o'clock for Badgers, first going up 
"Rooshey" Pond about three miles, when Mr. 
Penny and I both froze our noses, but only 



158 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

slightly, so that aside from subsequent peeling 
they were all right. It was bitter cold and a 
brisk northwest wind went right through us. 
Over pond after pond, through bits of green 
woods and over burned barrens we went till we 
came to the Badger Waters, and dined at the 
A. N. D. Camp, then went down the river to the 
railroad station. On our arrival we found that 
the train had not made connections with the 
steamer. The Bruce had probably gone to St. 
John's Tuesday night. So I went to Grand Falls 
to spend the day, see the mill and hospital and 
get on the train so as to ride to Badgers with 
mother. Alas! the train report next morning 
said the Bruce did not connect. Sadly I took 
the train back to Badgers to see that Mr. Penny 
did not get tired of waiting and leave for home, 
and spent the night, returning Friday to spend 
Sunday with Dr. Chamberlain, but for whom 
and "Westward Ho!'' I would have perished of 
loneliness and disgust with the railroad com- 
pany. 

Pilley's Island, Friday, March 29. 

There is such a bleating of goats, such a 
"bawlin' of fowls," such a flood of bright sun- 
light pouring in through our open windows, that 
I feel sure spring has come to the island in spite 
of the frozen harbour and the snow-covered hills. 
All the animal kingdom seems to be aroused to 
fresh activity. The hens are feeding busily with 



We Welcome a Stranger 159 

an accompaniment of cheerful and contented 
clucks ; in the brown patches of last year's grass 
left bare on the sunny slopes of our hill, the goats 
are wandering far and wide, nibbling at stray 
branches of evergreen "lodged'' on the ground 
from some passing sled, and even venturing in- 
side open doors in the exhiliration of the spring 
feeling in the air. (I have just heard Livvy driv- 
ing one out of our laundry with good-natured 
^^shoo-s.") 

This morning I watched an unkempt pig from 
"up beyond Millses" plodding resolutely up the 
long hill from the road through the snow as 
though in response to a newlyheard call, for it 
seemed loath to turn back, when Mrs. Shearing 
threw stout billets at it to keep it out of her front 
yard. It's perfectly possible that pigs feel the 
"spring fret come o'er them" on such a day as 
this, all sunshine and stir and activity, after the 
long, cold silence of winter. My neighbours are 
shaking "mats" on their front platforms and 
hanging freshly washed blankets in gratitude for 
such "a beautiful dryin' day," and I am rejoicing 
in the crowing of the cocks which has a distinctly 
more jocund note than when it sounded forlornly 
from behind closed shed doors on snow-bound 
mornings. 

And all this time poor Hugh is waiting "eento 
the Badgers" with Mr. Penny and the ten dogs 
for our long-expected mother. I won't sully such 
a morning with thoughts of the railway company, 



160 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

but will limit my feelings to the bare statement 
that the express did not wait for the Bruce to 
reach St. John's, so that mother can't get away 
until Sunday night, reaching Badgers (prob- 
ably) Monday morning. 

Sunday, March SI. 

Kained last night and Saturday. Snowed this 
morning and froze. 

Monday, April 1, Grand Falls. 

Train due at twelve-thirty. Arrived at one- 
twenty with mother aboard ! Broke a spring di- 
rectly causing a delay of one hour. Beached 
Badgers finally at three-thirty. Everything for- 
gotten in the joy of at last welcoming our long- 
sought guest and mother. 

Mr. Penny assembled the dogs, while mother 
and I regaled ourselves with a cup of coffee at 
Mrs. Coleman's. At four o'clock we started off, 
having packed mother in my coat and Bunty's 
sleeping bag and a deerskin. The dogs made a 
mad dash up the railroad tracks and into a store 
alongside. Extricated, we pursued our way up 
the track and oh ! what a track ; it ran in waves 
like the lash of a snapped whip. Soon we fled 
onward to the Badger Camp, where I stopped 
long enough to try to send a message back telling 
F — we had started. On across the Badger Ponds 
with the sinking sun on our left and a bitter cold 



We Welcome a Stranger 161 

■wind coming across the ice unbroken by brake or 
bush. As we ascended the hill to the barrens, the 
moon rose with one edge chopped off by the 
earth's shadow, — a partial eclipse. Across 
marshes where the slanting moonlight cast spec- 
tral shadows of the gaunt, burned trees and 
stumps, we sped in absolute stillness except for 
the *'Look, look, see the fox! — Hloo! Hloo! see 
the bird!— Hold off! Mouse!'' of Mr. Penny. 
Then we plunged into the green woods where the 
brilliant moonlight on the snow-covered firs was 
most wonderful. The absolute absence of any 
path made going precarious, the dogs dashing 
on opposite sides of trees and getting tangled 
and the komatik having to be guided through 
bushes and between tree trunks, the branches 
scraping and scouring past packages and pas- 
sengers who were in constant danger of scratches 
and knocks. Then out on to Eushy Pond where 
the stillness and glory of the moonlight was like 
day, but more beautiful. Mr. Penny and I 
alighted frequently to run along and warm our- 
selves. At Eushy Pond Camp we halted and fed 
the dogs. Went to the camp, an eight by four- 
teen log cabin, with a small stove in one corner 
and a slit of a door in the end. At the other end 
was a bunk where mother lay down for a couple 
of hours and slept, while Mr. Penny and I 
stoked the stove and dozed. At one-thirty A. M. 
we started again. On arriving at Sof's Arm the 
dogs made a mad rush to the barn, w^ere extri- 



162 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

cated, and once more "straightened onf and put 
on the road again. 

At ^\e o'clock we turned the corner and saw 
home, and in half an hour more we drove into the 
back yard. F — had been expecting us all night 
and was at the door to greet us. 

Tuesday, April 9. 

Called to Paddocks Bight to see a case of 
measles. Ice was about three inches deep in 
water nearly all the way. On the way down, I 
hailed Mr. Wear, whom I saw coming up from 
Lush's Bight with Penny's dogs and a barrel of 
flour, made him dump the flour and take me on. 
I had got thoroughly soaked through by that 
time, and nearly froze coming home as it came on 
to a freeze. 

Wednesday, April 10. 

Clear and cold after rain and freeze. Took 
my skates and went out to Sof's Arm to see 
whether they had gone in after mother's trunk. 
Bunty started but the wind blew furiously in 
our faces and his skates were not equal to the 
job. I reached there, had some tea, went trout- 
ing and dressed Mr. Penny's knee and started 
home scarcely daring to take my eyes off the ice 
for a second, the wind took me along at such a 
pace. I had to jump cracks and look out for 
rough places. Twice I stopped to tighten my 
skates a little and in the harbour one came off. I 




The Doctor's Wife Out for a Ride 




Mr. Forward Giving the Doctor's Wife and Her Mother 
a Ride on the Harbor 




Homeward Bound 



We Welcome a Stranger 163 

was twenty minutes on the way, which was over 
five miles. 

Thursday April 11. 

Got my toboggan made and christened it back 
of the hospital. On the fourth trip with Steve 
on board, I ran into a stump and broke the head 
of it all up. 

Gave lecture to-night at schoolhouse. 

Friday, April 12. 

Called to Badger Bay to see case of double 
pleuritis with effusion. Apparently recovering. 
Skated up across Sof's Arm, as usual with much 
wind which helped me back so that I was only an 
hour coming, including a walk of two miles. 

Such fine going on the ice that everybody is 
making the most of his opportunity to haul wood. 
It is a frequent sight to see wood slides equipped 
with sails laden to their utmost capacity just 
flying across the harbour. One man can easily 
pull half a cord of wood on skates if his slide will 
hold it. Most of them are smaller. 

Saturday, April IS. 

Mended the toboggan and curled it again, mak- 
ing it a foot shorter. Goes like the wind. Took 
Jack Eoberts down from the very top and 
thought he would bounce off the entire way down. 
Invited the Scouts to go Monday at their regular 
meeting. 



164 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Monday t April 15. 

Went to Badgers again. Tapped both chests, 
— three pints of fluid. Came back flying on 
skates, though ice was getting very thin and nar- 
rows were covered with water. 

Lester Barnes was the only one who came to- 
bogganing. Bunty and I had tried to stay on 
over the regular track I had made without the 
slightest success. 

Tuesday, April 16. 

Bunty off to King's Point to a typhoid case. 
We are at home anxiously awaiting events. 

Wednesday, April 17. 

Mother's trunk came after a thousand vicissi- 
tudes and complications. A great many oranges 
and grape fruit though on the road over three 
weeks were in perfect condition. 

Friday, April 19. 

We fly the Stars and Stripes at the hospital. I 
go trouting at Gull Pond and after chopping 
through about three feet of ice, give it up and 
Miss Forbes and I have a little pistol practice. 

Stopped at Head's Pond on the way home and 
caught one measly little trout. Not another bite. 

Snowing fast when I got back. Snowed into 
the night, about three inches in all. 



We Welcome a Stranger 165 

Saturday, April 20. 

Our first wedding anniversary. Celebrated by 
having Bunty to dinner and the Stucklesses in 
after dinner to eat ice cream and sing all the old 
time songs. 

Only four Scouts appeared at the meeting to- 
night. The other were presumably "copying'^ or 
^^copping/' that is jumping about on large pieces 
of ice broken up about the wharf, an amusement 
of the highest sort. The object being not to fall 
in, the result, soaking feet and legs to the knees 
at least, and generally a plunge. The boys are 
said still to keep up the practice which Mr. 
Shearing tells of his boyhood when he used to fall 
in the water, take his clothes off on the ice, wring 
them and put them back again semi-dry, before he 
dared go home. 

Sunday, April 21. 

Mother and I went to church. Mr. Stuckless 
read the service. 

Monday, April 22. 

Anxiously waiting for this week^s mail to see 
if Dr. Wakefield has a substitute to take Bunty's 
place. All our spring orders await his and Dr. 
Grenfell's reply. Nothing heard from the gov- 
ernment grant. 

The hospital library seems to be a great suc- 
cess. Only one person has failed to return a book 



166 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

on time so far, and that book was temporarilj 
lost. 

Tuesday, April S3. 

David McLean Greeley, est. Mrs. Stuckless 
ran up the flag of Newfoundland and the Stars 
and Stripes on the same pole. Great rejoicing 
on the island. 

Wednesday, April SJf.. 

When in my own I hold my David's hand, 

I cry a truce to Time and Grief and Tears, 
And though 'tis winter in this northern land. 
When in my own I hold my David's hand, 
I know the earth by fairer sky is spanned 
Than ever shone on all my happy years. 
When in my own I hold my David's hand, 
I cry a truce to Time and Grief and Tear*. 

Friday, April 26. 

Telegraphed Dr. Blake about a surgeon to take 
Bunty's place as Dr. Grenfell left the matter 
with him when he went to Europe this week. 

Very mild day. Went across the harbour in the 
morning and in the afternoon it was not safe to 
go anywhere. A horse and man went through 
to-day and were pulled out. 

Saturday, April Jf7. 

Scout meeting. Five faithful members pres- 
ent. 

Sunday, April S8. 

Very mild and showery. Narrows entirely 
open. 



We Welcome a Stranger 167 

Wednesday, May 1. 

Prospero left St. Jolm's for her first trip north 
this spring. 

Friday, May 10. 

Left on Prospero for St. John's, arriving Mon- 
day morning. Beautiful day. Many icebergs. 

Sunday, May 12. 

More icebergs and beautiful weather. Played 
-&se games of checkers with Captain Kean, all 
with disastrous results to me, at which he got up 
and left for the bridge in contemptuous but silent 
superiority. 

Monday, May 13. 

Arrived in St. John's. Kepaired to the "Bal- 
sam Place." Filled with actors. Telephoned 
Wakefield's. Invited to stay with them. 

Saw Poor Commissioner, who informed me 
Pilley's Island grant began next July, so decreed 
by legislature. I could get no money and legis- 
lature would have to rescind vote and make it 
retroactive, if I wanted any. Went away in great 
perplexity, but decided to see the Colonial Secre- 
tary, whom I found a most delightful and agree- 
able person, for before leaving the office I had an 
order for five hundred dollars and extras for 
pauper hospital patients. 



168 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Friday, May 31. 

Miss Hemenway, the new volunteer nurse, ar- 
rived from Boston to take Miss Forbes' place. 

Saturday, June 1. 
Mother leaves to-morrow. 

Sunday, June 2, 

Mother, Miss Forbes, Miss Gleason and Bunty 
left this morning amid "tears and cheers." 

Friday, June 7. 

When we looked out over the harbour after 
breakfast this morning we were thrilled by the 
sight of a small steamer flying several bright pen- 
nants, conspicuous among them the flag of the 
Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishers 
which told us it was the "Strathcona" on her way 
down north from St. John's where she had gone 
to meet Dr. and Mrs. Grenfell. This was the 
first steamer, aside from the mail boats, that had 
entered our harbour since our arrival and it was 
especially pleasant to know that it was bringing 
the Grenfells to us as guests. I flew over to Mrs. 
Shearing's to see if she could let me have a 
chicken for dinner, and the good woman at once 
sacrificed one of her best in honor of the occasion. 

Dr. Grenfell was most kind and helpful in the 
long talk that we had with him in regard to the 



We Welcome a Stranger 169 



fe^ 



future of the hospital, and before leaving he 
wrote to Miss White (Secretary of the Boston 
Branch), asking the Mis>sion to i)ay five hundred 
dollars for expenses of nurse and motor boat this 
summer. His sympathetic attitude did us great 
good and filled us with renewed energy for the 
summer's work. 



VIII. 

OUT THROUGH THE NARROWS 

June 22, 1912. 

THE Church threatens to interfere with my 
correspondence again this week, this 
time in the person of Parson E — , who 
has come up to rescue the members of the Church 
of England from the wiles of Methodism by hold- 
ing a service in the little chapel that you will re- 
member so attracted your attention, mother. He 
asked me some time ago when I saw him at the 
wharf, whether I would play the organ for him 
and I rashly assented, thinking he would prob- 
ably never have the service, but this morning in 
he came and made a long call and said he would 
perhaps hold one this evening. I hasten to re- 
assure you all that for the honor of the family I 
had him give me a list of the hymns so that I 
shouldn't break down entirely in each one. It 
was interesting to see this representative of the 
Church of England, after having lived on terms 
of intimacy last week with two Methodys. There 
is a pleasant worldliness about the parson which 
is refreshing after the ministerial reflections of 
Brothers A — and P — , who entertained us with 
statistics showing the superior numbers of Meth- 

170 



Out Through the Narrows 171 

odists in every district, their excellence in the 
examinations for which children of all denomina- 
tions sit, the number of persons who "Came to 
the penitent form" at the last revival they held 
and other items of a similar character; while 
the parson showed great interest in the baby 
jacket I was embroidering, saying that his wife 
was "often engaged in that sort of work," and 
described with great enjoyment his vegetable and 
flower gardens and the "small circular garden in 
front of our school where we have developed the 
finest sort of English daisies, with pansies in the 
center." I feel particularly warm towards him 
at present as it is evening and he is not holding 
the dreaded service; why, I know not. 

Yesterday we had a disappointment in the 
failure to appear of Miss Cabot who sent no ex- 
planatory message or letter, so we are wondering 
what the matter can be. Poor, dear Miss Hemen- 
way had spent hours making a room charmingly 
Inviting for Miss C — with flowered muslin hang- 
ings, — w^e bought the material at "Mills's," — 
a blue and white bowl of purple violets, a white 
cover for the bed and many other thoughtful 
little touches w^hich transformed the dinginess 
mother deplored into a bower-like freshness. She 
had a delicious supper ready with a centrepiece 
of flowers on the table and all the mission box 
doilies w^hich I had given her, and the whole hos- 
pital was shining with cleanliness and she was 
full of eager anticipation. She had invited H — 



172 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

and me to supper so we exhausted ourselves in 
praising every detail and had a very pleasant 
time. 

Friday, June 28. 
Miss Cabot arrived on the Prospero to take 
Miss Gleason's place. 

Thursday, July Jf. 
Celebrated the Fourth with gay party, singing 
American National songs. Mr. and Mrs. Wells, 
Mr. and Mrs. Stuckless, and Mr. Shearing all 
joined loudly in the Gem of the Ocean and Star- 
Spangled Banner. 

Friday, July 5. 
Wire from Aunt May saying she would be here 
to-night on Clyde at eight o'clock. Great excite- 
ment among hospital staff. 

Friday, July 12. 

Prospero came bringing Mito^^ Gray, who stayed 
only a few minutes. 

Motor boat christened to-day, the "Pill Box." 
Nurses made a red lettered pennant, and we all 
sang to the tune of John Brown's Body, 

The "Pill Box's" pennant now is flying in the breeze. 
The "Pill Box" is launched to sail on fair or stormy seas. 
The "Pill Box" is ready to bring health to all disease 
At the good old P. I. H. 

Then hip, hip, hurrah for the "Pill Box" 
And the good old P. I.H.! 



■^tmijmm 




The Christening of the "Pill Box" 




Pilley's Isla;.*. 'rrom 


Across the Harbor 




i 




l^@S««9li' 


■ m4 


W^^ .. " 



The Stranger We Welcomed in April 



Out Through the Narrows 173 

Saturday, August 3. 
Went to Point Anson, Shoal Arm, to see old 
lady Hilliar, who has general anaemia. Fine trip 
in boat. Mrs. Koberts and Mary accompanied us. 

Sunday, August 4. 

Service at hospital. Dr. Murphy's voice a dis- 
tinct addition. He is here doing some eye work 
for our patients. 

Monday, August 5. 

Went out with Mr. Shearing and Mr. Miller in 
a skiff to get a load of ice for the ice house. With 
considerable difficulty, we shot off about half a 
ton of large blocks from the iceberg in the nar- 
rows and brought them in. Beautiful, clear, 
aseptic, arctic ice, or, as we say, "hoice." While 
we were out the iceberg was splitting and crack- 
ing and roaring near by as "she" grounded, or as 
a piece melted and broke off. 

Tuesday, August 6. 
Picnic to Hubbly's Cove. Strawberry picking. 
Clam digging. 

Thursday, August 8. 
Went to Southern Arm, Three Arms, etc., in 
motor boat with Mr. Forward. Had a splendid 
trip. Brought two patients to Dr. Murphy. 

Thursday, August 15. 
Went to Exploits, taking Miss Hemenway as 
far as Cottle's Cove, where she did some nursing. 



174 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

Friday, August 16. 
Operated at Fortune Harbour. 
Dr. Grenfell writes neither he nor mission can 
take any linaucial risk in this hospital. 

Saturday, August 17. 
Wrote an article for the paper trying to get 
one thousand dollars for a surgeon to run the 
hospital this winter. 

Sunday, August 18. 

Discharged Steve, who has been hospital or- 
derly. 

Started for Triton but propeller shaft broke 
off in the harbour just off the wharf. 

Monday, August 19. 
Larry Keating commences work at the hos- 
pital. 

Wednesday, August 21. 

Wired Cleveland, Ohio, for propeller and 
shaft, as none was obtainable in St. John's. 

Friday, August 2S, 
Clyde and Prospero both in at once. A great 
event for the island. 



Out Through the Narrows 175 

En Route from Bohuood, Newfoundland, 

to England, 
On Board "TrUonia," 
October 25, 1912. 

In spite of the fact that Emilj and Hugh are 
sitting next to nie painstakingly, and I may say 
painfully, picking out "Fair Harvard" on the 
"Hauto'arp" — I still can't forget the vernacular 
— I shall try to collect my thoughts enough to 
write you of our past and present and probable 
future. I want to go back to our last days at 
Pilley's Island, for it seems months since I last 
wrote you, and no wonder, when you consider 
how much has happened during the last two or 
three weeks after months of "islanding it" with 
no excitement except the arrival of the "Clyde." 

Perhaps Emily wrote you of how uncertain we 
were as to the day of our departure, since Hugh 
had told Mr. Parnell at Exploits to come for us 
in his motor boat on the first fine day after the 
Tritonia reached Botwood. So for several days 
we scanned first the sky and then the narrows 
and held ourselves ready to start on a moinent'KS 
notice. There was a great deal to do, of course, 
and so many odd bits of sewing that I sliould 
never have got them done if Margaret hadn't been 
an accomplished needlewoman. My chef d'oeuvre 
was my brown suit skirt which I fitted over by 
taking out the back breadth so that it looks really 
modern and is much trimmer and neater. My 
brown cloth hat is also a great success, made in 



176 Work and Play in the Grenfell Mission 

the close fitting waste basket shape, and Mrs. 
Crowe admired it so much that she asked to take 
the pattern. Dr. B., Hugh's successor at Pilley's 
Island, took his meals with us, so that we could 
fill him full of information about what people to 
beware of and which to trust. The poor chap is 
engaged and was so crazy to have the lady come 
on and be married after he saw "how well you're 
fixed" as he said to Hugh, that it was quite pa- 
thetic. We liked him very much and I think he'll 
get on easily with the people, for he is a farmer's 
son and used to this type he says, and his manner 
is gentle and pleasant with them. Monday after- 
noon Mrs. Forward came over, bringing numer- 
ous farewell parcels which touched us greatly. 
There was a green and gold shaving mug for H, 
a cup and saucer marked "A present for a good 
child," in gilt letters, from Mr. F. for David, a 
pretty scarf of silk fibre for me, and a comb and 
brush bag for Emily. There was also a glass of 
fresh clouted cream, and after supper both she 
and Mr. F. came over again, bringing some fresh 
butter which she had just made for our lunch. 
Mrs. Shearing gave us a large hooked mat, and 
Mrs. Ginn said she was going to send me one of 
a pattern that I had admired. Annie L — made 
me a gorgeous sofa pillow in yellow and red and 
Mrs. L — actually shed tears when she said good- 
bye. Mrs. Eoberts gave us a picture of her dar- 
ling children, and Mary said their father had 
told them they were losing their best friends. 



Out Through the Narrows 177 



'is 



Everyone was very good about telling H — how 
sorry they were to lose him, and Dr. Benson said 
all the people he met had nothing but praise to 
give of his work. I am telling you all these de- 
tails for I know you have been afraid that the 
Doctor would be given no spoken reward for his 
work, but I think he feels very happy over it all 
now that it is finished. 

Tuesday morning, as I was dressing, I sud- 
denly heard the quick choo-choo-choo of the 
motor boat that Mr. Parnell owns, and I can tell 
you that my heart beat faster than it had for 
many a day. I sent Margaret flying to the hos- 
pital to tell Hugh, who soon appeared. Mrs. 
Shearing came over to help and I let her dress 
the baby as the poor woman was in such a state 
of tears and regret that she needed some comfort. 
Mr. Koberts and Larry Keating helped Hugh 
down with the baggage and we were soon through 
breakfast and ready to leave. The Doctor's 
wife allowed herself one moment of sentiment 
when she ran upstairs at the last moment to 
say "Koom where David was born, good-bye!" 
and gave a last tender look at his nursery. It 
was hard to leave the house, so full of happy 
associations, and I think often now of the num- 
ber of kind and friendly voices that have echoed 
in it during the last year and a half. It is need- 
less to say that we shall always be more and 
more glad to have gone to Pilley's Island, and I 
believe no other single experience will ever teach 



178 Work and Play in tlie Grenfell Mission 

US more of the depth and the sweetness of life. 
But I mustn't keep our neighbours waiting on 
the wharf. Emily wrote you, she says, of the 
crowd that gathered to speed our parting. I was 
a proud woman as I sat in the boat holding my 
son who was the centre of everyone's interest 
and who gazed up at them all with his friendliest 
smile. Then Mr. Parnell started the engine, and 
all the men took off their hats and waved them, 
and the women waved their handkerchiefs, and 
David's hand was waved for him, and so we 
sailed away through the narrows and out of sight 
of the Doctor's house on the hill, and of Mrs. 
Vierge and Mrs. Denney waving from their door- 
steps, and Pilley's Island was gone forever. 



APPENDIX 

Written for the Boston friends who, at the sug- 
gestion of Miss Grace W. Minns, supplied us 
with many records and a Victrola. 

An oblong wooden box it stood 

Within the Doctor's house "down north/' 

What wonder that the neighbours stared 
To hear the voices that poured forth ! 

We fitted in a wooden point. 

We turned a handle, moved a key. 
And lo, the wondering room was filled 

With floods of lovely melody. 

Of melody that moved slow minds. 

Long unaccustomed to delight. 
With visions of another world 

More warm, more beautiful, more bright. 

Than that which lay outside our doors, 
Snowbound and rocky, bare and cold, 

Unfired by that pulsing life 

Of which the southern minstrel told. 

If only he could have a voice 

More magic even than the rest. 
How many scenes could he describe 

In which as loved and honored guest 

He entertained the fisher folk, 

The old, the young, the sick, the well. 

And charmed away cold-handed care 
From those who came beneath his spell I 
179 



180 Appendix 

How often have I seen a glow 

Upon the pallid cheek of pain 
As thru' the hospital there stole 

The healing of some loved refrain! 

The pale hand on the coverlid 
That beat the time, I see it now. 

Ah, friend, I pay my tribute here, — 
None went more gallantly than thou. 

And then the children ! How they loved 
To have the jolly Scotchman sing, 

They did not guess 'twas blither far 
For us to hear their laughter ring. 

How bright their eyes with dancing mirth, 
As near the minstrel's side they pressed 

And gave their verdict heartily, 
*We like the funny ones the best." 

But often when the violin's soul 
Awoke beneath a master's hand, 

Some toil-worn parent sighed applause, 
^'Oh, ma'am, 'tis beautiful, 'tis grand!" 

How wondrous was that night of nights, 
When next the glittering Christmas tree 

The minstrel voiced the children's joy. 
Their pent-up, perfect ecstasy. 

And when we in their Mystery Play 
Eevealed the Manger's sacred sight, 

We showed them through the minstrel's voice 
The meaning of the Holy Night. 

Dear, happy time, forever gone! 

Yet warm and real in memory. 
Whose chest through all the coming years 

Will open to the minstrel's key. 



Appendix 181 

Perhaps within a splendid hall 

With gilded dome and columns high, 

The cello's god-like notes will tell 
The sweet, sad tale of Butterfly. 

When straightway all the scene will fade, 
The gold and lights will vanish quite. 

And we shall see a storm-bound land 
Snow-swept within the northern night. 

Then through the roaring of the wind 

The cry of dogs arises clear 
With shouts of men — oh, welcome jsound 

That greets a lonely, listening ear ! 

Heap on more wood, though brightly now 

The birch logs crackle into blaze. 
While out across the harbour ice 

Our friendly candle sends its rays. 

Uo terror has the raging storm 

Tho' loud and shrill its voices swell, 
Quick, minstrel, play his best loved song. 

The Doctor comes, and all is well ! 



Oh, you, who sent the minstrel forth 
To make rough places plain, 

I would our hearts could sing like him 
Their full united strain. 

The simple language of the North 
Can frame no graceful phrase 

To tell you how the minstrel made 
Bright nights and golden days. 

We cannot give, as you have given. 
That which shall feed the soul. 

The gratitude our lips express 
Seems but a scanty dole. 



182 Appendix 

But though no music helps to voice 

The tribute we would bring. 
Receive our thanks, receive our thanks. 

You who have made us sing ! 

Extract from Dr. Grenf ell's Recommendation to the Boston 
Committee of the Grenf ell Mission, in the winter of 1911, 

The idea of asking Dr. Greeley to go to Green 
Bay is suggested by the fact that our medical 
staff are aware that the people of the large bays 
around Newfoundland are badly in need of efr 
ficient, up-to-date medical work. This is certain 
anyhow, because the local doctors cannot do jus- 
tice to patients by visiting round such scattered 
districts, by the fact that also in many districts 
the people have sent us petitions asking for us to 
take up work in their bays, owing to the drunken- 
ness or inefficiency of their doctors. Some have 
accompanied their petitions with lists of families 
willing to pay four dollars per year for medical 
work, and to pay in addition for drugs and opera- 
tions. 

Pilley's Island being central in Green Bay, and 
being the first from which such a petition reached 
us, when Dr. Greeley offered his services, I sug- 
gested he should write to Green Bay and hear 
what the people had to say. They wired him, 
asking him to come right on. 

When a doctor has expended a large amount 
of money, and the necessary years of life to 
qualify for good work, unless he is endowed with 
wealth, he can neither be expected to pay for the 



Appendix 183 

privilege of an opportunity to work or to give his 
services, without the apparatus to enable him to 
do good work. He cannot be expected to dole out 
pills like an ordinary dispensing chemist, or sink 
into the position of a quack doctor because he 
cannot attain the results that he knows can be 
and ought to be obtained if he had the outfit that 
he has been accustomed to. 

In Newfoundland, the large hospitals at St. 
John's and at St. Anthony, the two opposite ends 
of the island, serve for purposes which a small 
one, such as is proposed, probably will not be able 
to meet; and their work will become better for 
the fact that numbers of cases that now come to 
them can be locally treated. On the other hand, 
neither of these hospitals can accommodate the 
number of patients that seek their treatment. 
Moreover, there are many cases of an acute na- 
ture that are materially injured by the delay and 
expense of the long travel to reach them. 
Thirdly, considerable suffering and misery is 
caused to those who love them by sick folk hav- 
ing to undertake this long travel and possibly 
die far from all their loved ones and never be 
seen again. Moreover, many will do better in the 
country and will cost less per capita to attend 
than in the city ; also, many of these people be- 
fore they set out, don't know what is the matter 
and whether they are fit to travel or in need of 
hospital treatment, in which way much loss is 
incurred by them. Also, there are in these bays 



184 Appendix 

no places at which modern diagnosis can be ob- 
tained, as there are no X-ray apparatus or patho- 
logical laboratories, such as a small hospital of 
this kind would surely soon secure. 

These bay hospitals would, to my mind, not 
need to be supported after they were first started 
by charity from the outside world. They cer- 
tainly need outside aid to organize and start 
properly; and that help, a large organization, 
like the Labrador Medical Mission, ought to be 
able to give. The permanence of these bay hos- 
pitals must depend on the people in the bay; a 
committee must be organized, a regular plan 
must be worked out in conjunction with any local 
and medical men round the bay ; that will enable 
them to form a permanent organization so that 
the ordinary causes that make hospitals difficult 
and impossible may be avoided, — such as pa- 
tients who insist on being admitted when it is 
not advisable or necessary. 

The idea of Dr. Greeley going to Green Bay is, 
therefore, purely experimental, to see if the place 
is suitable, if such a work is possible, and if it 
can be made self-supporting. It is hoped that if 
his report justifies it, the work would become 
permanent, and the example copied in other bays. 
It is not the intent to pauperize districts by rais- 
ing money outside in America or England for 
maintenance; but to help them to help them- 
selves by starting the hospital. Every man in 
the district will have to pay, as usual, the four 



Appendix 185 

dollars per year for the medical officer, and as 
well the cost of treatment, if he can afford it, at 
rates controlled by the doctors and the local 
committee in consultation. If they cannot pay, 
they should be treated free, or sent on to the gov- 
ernment-supported hospitals. The government 
could give a small grant annually according to 
their custom, but I should consider that these 
hospitals could depend on the generosity of the 
people in the bays themselves. 

I have tried for the last two years to find a 
good surgeon for out-port districts, but while I 
can easily find them to join the staff of the Mis- 
sion, which offers them its backing in a hospital, 
I have hitherto been unsuccessful until Dr. 
Greeley and Dr. Webster offered their services 
to one. The Labrador Medical Mission does not 
see its way so far to add permanently any addi- 
tional expenses to its annual budget, nor that 
any such addition is yet advisable or necessary; 
but it desires to cooperate and lend such aid and 
advice as its long experience enables it to give. 
The future of this experiment will depend, so 
far as the Mission is concerned, on the final re- 
ports of Doctors Webster and Greeley as to (1) 
their willingness to cooperate, (2) their ability 
to carry on, and (3) the amount of need existing 
for continuance. 



186 Appendix 

Toronto, June IJf, 1911. 

Dear Greeley : — 

Yours from Green Bay just received. Very 
glad you find things justify anyhow a four 
months' visit. I am a most worried person of 
late and I get the blues in a small way as to how 
projects will eventuate. I do pray most sincerely 
your generous gift of time and labor may repay 
you amply. It is at least giving you another 
taste of the truest joy of human life, — that, in 
my estimation, is its true dignity and justifica- 
tion — viz: That we can put something into life 
to help others, which I believe is the true and 
only real expression of our faith in our sonship 
of God. 

My kindest regards to your wife. 

I have had a letter to-day from the English 
Mission. They say very definitely they will not 
accept any further financial responsibility. That 
if Pilley's Island gets a hospital I must see they 
or the government provide for it, and that all we 
can do is to do what we can to help, — accepting 
no liability financially. I'll see you later and 
talk it over with you face to face. 

The launch you can have is at Forteau. I must 
get some boys, however, to take her to you. 
Yours, 

Wilfred Grenfell. 



Appendix 187 

Eeport Sent to Grenfell Mission Directors 
and to the premier of newfound- 
LAND, October, 1912. 

The Pilley's Island Hospital was organized in 
November, 1911. Active medical and surgical 
work began November 15, 1911. 

The property consists of a former hotel build- 
ing leased annually from the Pilley's Island Py- 
rites Company. A permanent lease or purchase 
of the property was impossible, because of the 
chaotic state of the mining company. After com- 
municating with the liquidator and manager, 
however, the manager here assured us that no 
difficulties would arise and that probably a per- 
manent occupation of the building would be pos- 
sible. 

Only slight alterations were necessary in order 
to make the building suitable as a hospital. It 
is fitted for ten patients, but under pressure 
could accommodate fifteen. It also has accom- 
modations for a doctor, two nurses and one serv- 
ant. One small ward of two beds is fitted for 
the care of patients with contagious diseases. 
There is an excellent operating room and steril- 
izing room. 

The water supply for washing, cooking, and 
scrubbing is very adequate, there being a pump 
connection with a deep well directly opposite the 
hospital. Drinking water is obtained from a well 
about one hundred and fifty yards away. 



188 Appendix 

Sewage disposal is made by an underground 
wooden drain, which empties into a deep crevasse 
in the hill and thence into the ocean. 

The admission and care of patients is governed 
by the following charges and rules : 

Patients are admitted with any disease. If 
they are not able to pay the regular charges they 
are asked to present a magistrate's order ; then 
they are admitted as free patients. All paupers, 
of course, receive free treatment. 

In-patients pay the following charges : 

Three dollars a week for board. Five dollars 
a week for board and medical treatment. Sur- 
gical operations and dressings are charged for 
according to the time and materials used. 

Surgical operations command prices in a ris- 
ing scale; minor operations and operations not 
requiring a general anaesthetic, three dollars and 
under. Operations of a major character or re- 
quiring a general anaesthetic, three dollars to 
twenty-five dollars. Out-patients coming to the 
surgery are charged the nominal fee of fifty cents 
for a complete physical examination. Medicine 
is dispensed at rates only slightly above cost. 

Patients are visited in their homes at the rate 
of fifty cents a mile, counting the distance in one 
direction only. Surgical operations are not in- 
cluded in this fee. 

Patients on the island subscribing five dollars 
a year are allowed five visits to their families, and 



Appendix 189 

free visits to the surgery, but pay for all their 
medicines. 

Number of Patients Treated in Ten Months. 

North side of bay 11 

Middle of bay 61 

South side of bay 18 

Total 90 

Result of Treatment. 

Benefited 52 

Completely relieved 23 

Not benefited 15 

Total 90 

Classification of Patients. 

Medical 26 

Surgical 64 

Total 90 

Average length of stay in hospital, two weeks. 

Of course a ten months' experience is entirely 
inadequate in making definite conclusions in re- 
gard to an experiment of this kind, but there are 
certain general considerations which may be of 
interest. The problem which we set about to try 
to prove was to what extent a hospital in Green 
Bay could be made self-supporting. The chief 
difficulties in the work were the attitude and pre- 



190 Appendix 

vious training of the people. For many previous 
generations they had been accustomed to shift for 
themselves, and had grown to believe that a doc- 
tor was a luxury most of the time, a convenience 
occasionally in very severe sicknesses, but never 
a necessity. During the present generation what 
hospital treatment they sought was entirely free. 
To try to interest them in a hospital largely paid 
for by themselves, has been very up-hill work, the 
attitude being that the government or the mis- 
sion ought to pay for their hospitals. The atti- 
tude of the mission was that we could not call 
upon them to stand behind us for one cent of 
money. They furnished two unsalaried physi- 
cians, one for six months and one for a year and a 
half, and a salaried nurse. The government took 
the stand, and rightly, that if they gave any con- 
siderable support, the hospital would have to 
be a free hospital. Therefore, the first year's 
work was undertaken by the physicians in charge 
at their own financial risk. We have demon- 
strated to our own satisfaction that a hospital 
can largely pay for itself, and under the arrange- 
ment promised us by the government, can be un- 
dertaken by any physician without financial loss, 
and by an ambitious physician with a good pros- 
pect of a reasonable salary for himself. 

In an analysis of the work it is seen that the 
in-patients at the hospital do not pay for running 
the hospital, but the chief income is from the out- 
side practice in visiting the sick in the district. 



Appendix 191 

The present attitude of the mission is that they 
will do their utmost to obtain a suitable staff of 
doctors and nurses to run the hospital. 

The present attitude of the government is that 
it will give one thousand dollars a year outright 
and guarantee another thousand a year in case of 
need. This insures against loss as any physician 
can make both ends meet with two thousand a 
year, and ought to pay himself a moderate salary. 

There are other ways in which the government 
might help. First, in maintaining telegraph 
service, which we have not had at all this sum- 
mer. It does not seem unreasonable with only 
three hospitals on the island open to the general 
public, that the coastal boats should call at these 
hospitals. And yet Pilley's Island was refused 
as a port of call to one line, though this boat line 
made stops at less important places on either side 
of Pilley's Island. 

We earnestly beg the Government to remedy 
this condition as we feel that it would perma- 
nently insure the success of the undertaking. We 
take pleasure in expressing our appreciation and 
gratitude for their cooperation in the past and 
their promise of help in the future. 

( Signed. X Hugh P. Greeley, M.D. 



192 Appendix 

Pilleys Island, Notre Dame Bay, 1910, 
De. W. Grenfell, Deep Sea Mission, 
Dear Sir: 

May we, the undersigned residents of settle- 
ments between Leading Tickles and Springdale 
inclusive, respectfully beg to intimate that hav- 
ing in the past experienced and suffered in no 
yery impalpable degree consequent upon the want 
of a resident doctor centrally located between the 
above mentioned settlements, we would earnestly 
appeal to your humane and philanthropic con- 
sideration in the hope that you may be pleased 
to extend a branch of Deep Sea Mission as de- 
cided, and we, on our part, faithfully promise to 
aid, help and maintain such doctor by an annual 
fee of I — per capita. 

Signed, WILLIS FOEWAED, 
JOHN SHEAEING, 
E. 0. STUCKLESS, 
and 125 others. 

Triton, A. W. SIMMS, 

JAMES FUDGE, 
ANDEEW WINDSOR, 
fk 3^ ^ija^-^^wid 55 others. 
Eoberts Arm,>^.^J%.rf.;.:. ..JOHN HEWLITT, 
^'' ' and 7 others. 

Dark Tickle, JOSEPi: FUDGE, 

and 8 others. 

Sunday Cove Island, BENJAMIN SEAE, 

GEOEGE WELLMAN, 
and 45 others. 
Note. — Similar petitions were sent to Springdale, Little Bay 
Islands, Newtown, Leading Tickles and other settlements, each 
one returning the petition with a list of names, and opposite, 
the amount each man promised to give annually for the support 
of the Mission Doctor. These petitions were not received in the 
original letter to Dr. Grenfell. 

Printed in United States of America 



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